<
https://theconversation.com/sending-teens-to-maximum-security-prisons-shows-australia-needs-to-raise-the-age-of-criminal-responsibility-187768>
"Australia’s juvenile detention centres have been under the spotlight since
2016, when
ABC Four Corners revealed the treatment of inmates at Darwin’s Don
Dale Youth Detention Centre. The children were being stripped naked, tied to
restraint chairs, manhandled and even teargassed.
Such was the shock when the episode aired that, within hours, then Prime
Minister Malcolm Turnbull called for a royal commission into juvenile detention
centres in the Northern Territory, though he later refused to extend the
inquiry to other states and territories.
The release of the commission’s final report, almost two years later, followed
a familiar pattern. It found staff had in many cases not followed required
procedures and the system had “failed to comply with the basic binding human
rights standards in the treatment of children and young people”.
Nevertheless, none of the officers involved was charged and the commission’s
recommendations seem to have been ignored.
Those incidents were not unique to Don Dale. While the government blames them
on “difficult” juveniles, it ignores how young detainees are also among the
most vulnerable members of society.
Unfortunately, as the Banksia Hill case shows, Australia pays scant attention
to the difference between a child and an adult offender. The evidence suggests
it’s time to rethink this approach."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
