ºÚÁÏÇ鱨վ

Thank you, Madam Chair

I make this statement as the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner, on behalf of the ºÚÁÏÇ鱨վ.

The impact of colonisation around the globe has been devastating for our peoples. The violent invasion of Australia commenced 237 years ago with massacres continuing up until the late 1920s.

As the Study for this item points out, colonial violence rarely ceases, it transforms. 

In making this statement, I acknowledge Bibbulmun Noongar woman Associate Professor Hannah McGlade, current Member of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues and Cobble Cobble woman Professor Megan Davis who has served on both the Permanent Forum and the Expert Mechanism previously.

Both have played a pivotal role in advocating for the rights of children, including through their recent work in co-authoring an urgent complaint regarding youth justice policies and human rights concerns in respect of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children which has been submitted to the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.

The ºÚÁÏÇ鱨վ has provided its endorsement of the complaint.

Madam Chair,

The failure of systems to support the rights of Indigenous children is a significant human rights challenge globally and is fuelling pipelines into negative life trajectories.

In Australia, national data shows that First Nations children are 26 times more likely to be in detention than non-Indigenous children.

First Nations children exposed to structural and systemic discrimination, poverty and intergenerational trauma stemming from colonisation make up the majority of those in out-of-home care and youth justice systems.

All Australian governments have committed to taking steps to reduce the rising levels of exposure through nationally agreed targets focused on First Nations wellbeing.

However, Indigenous children in Australia are disproportionately affected by ‘tough on crime’ policy approaches, particularly the regressive measures recently introduced by a number of Australian state and territory governments.

These approaches are not consistent with the identified outcomes of the National Agreement on Closing the Gap, nor with the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Rather, they perpetuate racial profiling and negative stereotyping, condemning our children to a lifetime of abuse, deprivation and disadvantage – a cycle that repeats from generation to generation.

Locking up children does not reduce crime, nor does it curb the transition from youth detention to a life of adult incarceration.

Evidence-based, community-led and adequately funded prevention and early intervention approaches, that centre family, child development and well-being, and the best interests of children, must be the focus.

 The ºÚÁÏÇ鱨վ recommends that all States require their governments to commit to evidence-based policies that support the administration of child justice systems consistent with human rights obligations. This includes by ensuring a focus on addressing socio-economic inequalities that result in the over-representation of First Nations children in harmful child justice systems; ensuring specific, culturally safe preventative programs to support children at risk of engagement in these systems; and preventing recidivism.

Thank you.