Queensland's Liberal National party leader, David Crisafulli, has outlined "mandatory isolation periods" for children who assault workers in youth detention, despite experts arguing periods of extended isolation are detrimental to children.

Speaking on Sunday with LNP candidates in Ipswich, Mr Crisafulli - who polls show is likely to win the upcoming Queensland election - spoke about the alleged "youth crime crisis" impacting Queensland.

The new policy would be labelled "detention with purpose", the LNP leader said, and will include "minimum isolation periods for youth who commit assault in detention".

He said children who do not behave in detention would be punished, including by having their television removed, and rewarded for good behaviour.

"Access to food is a human right, a television is not," Mr Crisafulli said.

"It's a privilege. And it should be earned with good behaviour; it should be a reward for good behaviour."

The Opposition Leader defended the use of isolation, saying the proposed move "strikes the right balance".

"It uses the current framework that is there, but enables an extended period - that will be done with consultation - to make sure that there is a consequence that sends a message that staff aren't punching bags," Mr Crisafulli said.

The issue of prolonged isolation for children in detention has been a concern for human rights advocates, who argue it plays a role in traumatising children and exacerbating the likelihood of reoffending.

The Australian and New Zealand Children's Commissioners, Guardians and Advocates (ANZCCGA) has criticised the use of isolation on children, arguing it should be for the "shortest time possible" and be "publicly reported to an independent oversight mechanism".

In a report on Townsville's Cleveland Youth Detention Centre, the Queensland Ombudsman and Inspector of Detention Services, Anthony Reilly, said staff shortages regularly resulted in children being kept in their cells alone for lengthy periods—known as separation Queensland.

"Separation can affect children's psychological wellbeing and raises significant human rights issues," Mr Reilly said.

Between 2021 and 2023, some children were placed in isolation for more than 70 consecutive days, with some children spending time overnight in tiny cells with no running water or toilet.

"We heard one child screaming and bashing his fists on the door of the room, asking to be let out," the inspector said.

"The reasons we were given for the centre separating the children in those rooms was that each of their accommodation rooms was uninhabitable. One child had flooded his room with water and the other's room had an infestation of ants. There were no spare accommodation rooms to place the children in."

Earlier this year, a report revealed two disabled Indigenous children died in the aftermath of being kept in separation for extensive periods whilst in youth detention.

Combined, the two boys spent over 600 days in youth detention: Boy 1 for 376 days and Boy 2 for 319.

In the last 12 months before they died, the two spent a significant amount of time in separation. Boy 1 spent just over 100 days collectively, or nearly 80 per cent of his time, in isolation and Boy 2 spent 111 days in total in isolation—more than 50 per cent of his time in youth detention in the 12 months before he died.

In response, Gunggari Human rights campaigner Maggie Munn said: "These babies suffered extreme trauma and violence at the hands of the Queensland Government. They spent hundreds of days in solitary confinement. They took their lives."

Mr Crisafulli's statements on Sunday are the latest in a campaign that has focused on youth crime and has resulted in human rights groups telling National Indigenous Times they are worried for First Nations children under an LNP government.

He has campaigned on a policy of "adult crime, adult time," for youth offenders, and has promised to bring in "reset camps" and ditch "detention as a last resort" protections in Queensland law.

Despite the LNP arguing Labor has been soft on crime and a crime wave is impacting the state, data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics show Queensland's youth crime rate had halved across the past 14 years.

However, the incarceration rate for Indigenous youth offenders has more than doubled since 2010.

Almost half of all Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander children held in detention across Australia on an average day in 2022/23 are in Queensland.

The Labor government has twice suspended the human rights act - to criminalise breaches of bail for youth offenders and to allow children to be housed in adult watch houses - both of which have driven up arrest and incarceration figures for largely vulnerable children.

With AAP