Kids don’t belong in prison. This election Queensland needs to start listening to first nations voices and properly fund justice reinvestment, end the use of adulty watch houses for kids and raise the age of criminal responsibility to 14.
Queensland locks up more kids than anywhere else in Australia. First Nations kids make up nearly 72% of the incarcerated youth population.
kids as young as 10 are being locked up in prisons, with some voices in parliament calling for the criminal age of responsibility to be lowered even lower to as young as 8.
This October, we have a chance to make sure this doesn’t happen by telling the next government of Queensland that they don’t belong in prison cells. These kids’ futures are in their hands.
UNDERSTANDING THE ISSUE
ABOUT JUSTICE REINVESTMENT
Justice reinvestment is an approach managing public resources where money is redirected from prisons to community based initiatives. Justice reinvestment is led by the community, for the community.
Instead of harmful punitive approaches, justice reinvestment is evidence-based. It embraces therapeutic and rehabilitative methods like diversion programs that address the underlying causes of problematic behavior in children, in order to improve it – diverting them away from the criminal justice system.
Diversion programs and services like this already exist all over the country – and they’re incredibly successful
A justice reinvestment approach enables these experts to identify and address the root causes of this behavior, in order to improve it and divert children away from the criminal justice system.
Investment into First Nations-led solutions will immeasurably benefit children, families, and communities. This money will have a huge impact in breaking the cycle of over-representation of First Nations children in the criminal justice system.
ABOUT RAISING THE AGE
The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child has called on countries to raise the age to at least 14 years old. China, Russia, Germany, Spain, Sierra Leone, Azerbaijan, Cambodia and Rwanda have taken this step and we must do the same for Australian kids.
There is an overwhelming amount of medical and psychological evidence that shows us children’s brains are still developing, especially the parts that regulate judgement, decision-making and impulse control. This means that kids cannot foresee the consequences of any action and cannot fully understand the criminal nature of their behaviour. Whether sentenced or unsentenced, children can not navigate the full weight of their actions and do not belong in prison.
Putting kids in prison leads to compounding trauma and disadvantage, it fractures families and communities and removes children from their culture. The root causes of this issue include a complete lack of understanding of the realities of colonisation and its effects, leading to a historical and continuing lack of centering First Nations voices and learning, which has resulted in a lack of self-determination.
ABOUT AMNESTY’S CAMPAIGN
Amnesty International Australia is campaigning in Queensland to reduce the number of Indigenous children incarcerated and ensure their ongoing protection by raising the age of criminal responsibility to 14, in line with international human rights standards.
We are asking the next government of Queensland to fund culturally-appropriate alternatives to incarceration that centre First Nations voices, address the root causes of trauma and disadvantage, and uphold the principles of self-determination.
Recently, adult watch houses have been used by Queensland Police for the detention of young children. Thee watch houses are no place for kids and this practice of unsentenced detention deeply harms kids in the long term and must end.
In order to have a human rights impact, we need Amnesty members and supporters in Queensland to mobilise and demonstrate to political candidates and voters that they don’t want to see kids as political footballs in the election debate.
RESOURCES
Read 📖
Explainer: Why we need to raise the minimum age of criminal responsibility
Alternatives to Prison – Raise the Age Coalition
Pass the Message Stick – First Nations Messaging Guide
How to have a persuasive conversation guide
Watch 📺
Content Warning : Some of these resources include content that may distress some viewers.
Four Corners – Inside a maximum security police watch house where children are locked up
WHAT CAN YOU DO?
Join our online election training – more details coming soon!
Download an election posters – Coming soon!
Download our Justice Reinvestment flyer — Coming soon!
Read and Share our 2024 QLD election Guide – This informs voters how they can be across our Human Rights agenda when they go to vote.
Sign and share petition the petition – QLD Kids don’t belong in Prison Cells
^Download a printable version here
Host an election event of your own! – Our Skill Up site has a number of event planning guides and checklists. For the Queensland election, you could do market stalls, letterboxing, flyering, wobble boarding, or something different!
RSVP to help with an Amnesty election event – These events are run by local Amnesty groups to promote our Human Rights agenda in the lead up to election day.
