The overwhelming majority of Indigenous children held in custody are unsentenced, new data shows, with First Nations young people continuing to be incarcerated at disproportionate rates.
The latest Productivity Commission report, released on Wednesday evening, revealed more than 70 per cent of incarcerated Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in every state and territory were unsentenced.
Nationally, each First Nations child in detention spent an average of 57 days in custody before sentencing. In Queensland — which incarcerates more Indigenous children than any other jurisdiction — that figure rose to an average of 96.3 days, while in Victoria it exceeded 80 days per child.
The Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody recommended imprisonment be used only as a last resort. However, Labor and Coalition-led governments across the country have continued to introduce policies that have increased incarceration rates, including stricter bail laws that have resulted in more people being held on remand before sentencing.
In many cases, lawyers say, children spend time in detention before ultimately receiving a non-custodial sentence.
In response to the figures, the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Services (NATSILS) again urged the Prime Minister to convene a national youth justice summit. The Senate is currently conducting an inquiry into youth justice, whilst a separate inquiry into racism towards First Peoples has also examined incarceration rates.
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NATSILS General Manager Nick Espie said the latest figures were unsurprising, noting children on remand had not been found guilty of any offence.
"The evidence is clear that when a child spends time behind bars, it increases their likelihood of reoffending," he said.
The Productivity Commission's latest Report on Government Services shows youth detention costs an average of $1.3 million per child each year.
"Not only is this approach cruel and damaging to our children and their families, governments are spending almost $3200 on locking up children, a measure we know makes communities less safe," Mr Espie said.
"Needless to say, Australia is not on track to meet its Closing the Gap target to reduce the rate Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in detention by at least 30 per cent by 2031, and without national leadership, that won't change.
"That's why we are calling on the Prime Minister to call a national emergency summit on youth justice. Decision-makers must listen to the voices of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people about solutions that actually work."
Legal advice obtained last year by the Justice and Equity Centre from barristers Kate Eastman and Emma Dunlop found the Commonwealth could intervene under section 51(xxix) of the Constitution to meet its international human rights obligations.
Nonetheless, the federal government has been reluctant to intervene, arguing youth justice is a matter for the states and territories.
In a statement, Independent Senator Lidia Thorpe said the government had failed to act.
"As I have heard again and again during the parliamentary racism inquiry in recent weeks, the federal government has continued to dodge any accountability on the harms it commits on our people," she said.
"The federal government could use the levers it has to ensure state and territory governments comply with their obligations, or withhold funding otherwise. It chooses not to. It chooses excuses over action."
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner Katie Kiss said that, with the Closing the Gap agreement due to conclude in 2031, Australia was "nowhere remotely near being able to meet even half, let alone all, of the targets".
"Governments are responsible for these failures. The National Agreement was a promise made by Australian governments to First Peoples, and that promise is being broken. The cost of delay is devastating: loss of lives, families, culture, languages and opportunities," she said.
"The targets that are worsening are directly related to policy approaches by state and territory governments that contradict their commitments under the agreement."
