QUEENSLAND

1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
When Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children are strong in their identity and
culture, and have the support of their communities, they can face even the
toughest challenges. 1 But many Indigenous children have been disconnected from
their culture and too frequently end up in detention, away from their community.
Despite comprising only 6% of the population of 10 to 17-year-olds, Indigenous
children make up over half of the youth detention population in Australia. 2
Nationally, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children are 24 times more likely
to be incarcerated than non-Indigenous children. 3 Recent media coverage of the
abuse of Indigenous children in the Northern Territory’s youth detention centre
has brought international attention to the broader injustices facing Indigenous
children in the Australian justice system. 4
In this report, the third in a series of reports for the Community is Everything
campaign, Amnesty International documents similar concerns about the
conditions and treatment of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in
detention in Queensland.
The report also considers the wider human rights implications presented by the
over-representation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in
Queensland’s youth justice system. Indigenous children in Queensland are 22
times more likely to be detained than non-Indigenous children. 5 Aboriginal and
Torres Strait Islander children make up about 8% of all 10 to 17-year-olds in
Queensland but 65% of the youth detention population on an average day. 6
1 Amnesty International acknowledges that in some Indigenous societies, people who have been through ceremonial
business or initiation are considered to be men and women, however Amnesty International uses the term ‘child’ to
describe young people aged under 18-years-old in accordance with the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. No
disrespect is intended by the use of these descriptors.
2 Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW), Youth Justice in Australia 2014-2015 (2016), Tables S76a, S144.
Totals may include a small number of children whose Indigenous status is unknown. Indigenous children represent an
estimated 125,059 out of 2,278,694 10 to 17-year-olds. Indigenous children comprised 436 of 752 children in detention
on an average day.
3 AIHW, Youth Justice in Australia 2014-2015 (2016), Table S77a. On an average day, Indigenous children in Australia are
in detention at a rate of 34.9 per 10,000 compared to a rate of 1.5 per 10,000 for non-Indigenous children (including
Northern Territory (NT) and Western Australian (WA) nonstandard data).
4 C Meldrum-Hanna, M Fallon, and E Worthington, Australia’s Shame, Four Corners, Australian Broadcasting Service, 25
July 2016, available at http://www.abc.net.au/4corners/stories/2016/07/25/4504895.htm.
5 AIHW, Youth Justice in Australia 2014-2015 (2016), Table S77a. Indigenous children in Queensland are in detention at a
rate of 30.3 per 10,000 compared to a rate of 1.4 per 10,000 for non-Indigenous children.
6 AIHW, Youth Justice in Australia 2014-2015 (2016), Tables S77a, S145. On an average day, Indigenous children in
Queensland are in detention at a rate of 30.3 per 10,000 compared to a rate of 1.4 per 10,000 for non-Indigenous
children. Indigenous young people represent an estimated 36,573 out of 486,188 10 to 17-year-olds. Totals may include
a small number of young people whose Indigenous status is unknown.
HEADS HELD HIGH
KEEPING QUEENSLAND KIDS OUT OF DETENTION, STRONG IN CULTURE AND COMMUNITY
AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL AUSTRALIA
1