Introduction by Croakey: The Queensland Government’s decision to abolish the state’s Truth-telling and Healing Inquiry and repeal its Path to Treaty “marks a major step backwards for First Nations rights”, according to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner Katie Kiss.
“The decision to scrap the Inquiry, denying our First Nations People a chance to share their stories to help accurately convey our state’s history, is extremely disrespectful and harmful,” she said in a statement.
Kiss has written to Premier David Crisafulli, urging him to reconsider his decision and offering to work collaboratively with his Government to achieve better outcomes for First Nations people in Queensland. A proud Kaanju and Biri/Widi woman who grew up in Rockhampton on the lands of the Darumbal People, Kiss was previously Executive Director of the Interim Truth and Treaty Body supporting Queensland’s Path to Treaty.
Meanwhile, Change the Record is urging people to sign a petition to raise the age of criminal responsibility to 14 years.
“This year, Queensland, the Northern Territory and Victoria have shown us what happens when governments push ‘tough on crime’ agenda. These changes aren’t protecting at-risk youth – they’re pushing them deeper into cycles of harm,” Change the Record said in a post on Instagram.
Below, Tabitha Lean and Debbie Kilroy outline the health impacts of incarceration on children and young people, as well as highlighting some significant concerns for women’s rights and healthcare.
Lean and Kilroy, founding members of the National Network of Incarcerated and Formerly Incarcerated Women and Girls, urge health advocates in the lead up to the federal election to consider forming alliances with organisations focused on human rights, legal reform, and social justice “to present a unified front against policies that threaten equitable health outcomes”.
The National Network was established in 2020 to represent people who have been in prisons and to advocate for abolition of the prison industrial complex.
Tabitha Lean and Debbie Kilroy write:
Queensland’s Liberal National Party’s ‘tough on youth crime’ policies will lead to increased criminalisation and incarceration of Aboriginal children, and we know that imprisonment impacts children’s health.
More specifically, imprisonment of children can have the following impacts on health:
Mental health – incarceration can lead to or exacerbate trauma, anxiety, depression, and PTSD in children, especially those already experiencing social disadvantages.
Physical health – children’s prisons don’t have adequate healthcare services, leading to unaddressed medical needs. Conditions like poor hygiene, limited exercise, and subpar nutrition can worsen physical health.
Interruption of development – incarceration disrupts critical periods of social, educational, and emotional development, leading to long-term impacts on cognitive and social skills, affecting children’s ability to reintegrate successfully.
Substance use – imprisonment can worsen substance dependency, as children who struggle with substance use may not receive adequate treatment and support within the punishment system.
Intergenerational trauma – for Indigenous communities, punitive policies on children can perpetuate intergenerational trauma, harming community health and trust in institutions.
Increased mortality risk – studies link children’s imprisonment with higher rates of mortality post-release, particularly due to suicide and violence, suggesting a lasting impact on health outcomes.
Redirecting resources toward preventative, community-based approaches could mitigate these health risks, providing supportive environments that focus on rehabilitation, education, and mental health rather than punishment.
We’re anticipating that the election of the LNP in Queensland is going to have a significant implication for the health and wellbeing of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, especially those who are criminalised.
The LNP ran on a strong law and order platform so we are anticipating this will result in an advancing of punitive policies which will intensify the criminalisation of Indigenous people, especially children, and this will worsen health outcomes by prioritising incarceration over community support and healthcare interventions.
The LNP’s ‘Regional Reset Program’ will target children who haven’t even committed a crime. This dangerous move threatens to create a new wave of Stolen Generations.
Removing children from their families and communities under the guise of early intervention is a throwback to the protection era, making the LNP the new mission managers and this new plan a replica of the historical injustices of forced removals — tearing children from their cultural and familial ties, and pushing them into child stealing systems.
If the elected Government implements their ‘tough on crime’ stance and pursues their ‘tackling youth crime’ agenda, the implications for health services will be negative. We will see vital funding redirected toward law enforcement and prison expansion rather than primary healthcare and community-based support services for Indigenous communities.
Significant concern
The election of the LNP raises significant public health concerns due to the likelihood that the LNP might allow abortion legislation to be revisited.
Although Premier elect David Crisafulli stated that abortion reform isn’t a priority, he hasn’t ruled out a conscience vote among his MPs.
Given the anti-abortion sentiments during the election campaign from several LNP candidates, we are anticipating that their agenda is actually to roll back abortion rights.
The LNP will drag us back to a time when women had no control over their own bodies. Any attempt to wind back abortion care poses a real and significant danger to the physical health and safety of women across Queensland, but more fundamentally, it threatens our right to bodily autonomy.
If the LNP continues to pursue their law-and-order agenda with the vigour it demonstrated during the election, we will see a gross expansion of the carceral state that will need to be funded.
There is only one pot of public dollars and all that means is that the money that the government will need to fund their ‘youth camps’ and increased police, will have to come from somewhere – so we anticipate that public health will not be seeing a significant increase in budget anytime soon.
Critical alliances
With the rise in conservatism and the election of the LNP in Queensland, there will be a shift to the right in relation to issues like abortion access and criminal justice policies. Therefore we are anticipating a shift in national conversations toward restrictive policies, particularly in reproductive health and the criminalisation of vulnerable communities.
It is therefore going to be essential leading up to the federal election that we build alliances across the sector.
Specifically, health advocates might consider forming alliances with organisations focused on human rights, legal reform, and social justice to present a unified front against policies that threaten equitable health outcomes.
For federal advocacy, we are going to need to centre health equity and the need for accessible and inclusive health policies that resist any regressive trends that could impact marginalised groups.
For our community, that means emphasising the ways that increased criminalisation and carceral policies worsen health outcomes, especially for First Nations communities and marginalised populations, and emphasising data on the health risks associated with incarceration to strengthen the case for supportive, rather than punitive, policies.
National health advocacy will need to remain focused on protecting and advancing the health and rights of all Australians – not just the few.
Further reading
Human Rights Watch report on youth incarceration and solitary confinement: This report highlights concerns about the use of solitary confinement for children and the detrimental effects on their mental health and development.
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) – Youth Justice in Australia: The AIHW provides comprehensive statistics and analysis on youth in detention in Australia, shedding light on demographics, offences, and systemic issues.
Impact of Youth Incarceration on Early Mortality (RTI International): This study links youth incarceration in adult facilities with higher mortality rates, showing the long-term risks of criminalising children.
Australian Human Rights Commission – The Rights of Children in the Youth Justice System: The Commission discusses the human rights implications for children in the justice system and emphasises the need for child-centred reform.
About the authors
Tabitha Lean is an activist, poet and storyteller. An abolition activist determined to disrupt the colonial project and abolish the prison industrial complex, she’s filled with rage, channelling every bit of that anger towards challenging the colonial carceral state. Having spent almost two years in Adelaide Women’s Prison, 18 months on Home Detention and three years on parole, Tabitha uses her lived prison experience to argue that the criminal punishment system is a brutal and too often deadly colonial frontier for her people. She believes that until we abolish the system and redefine community, health, safety and justice; her people will not be safe.
Debbie Kilroy OAM was first criminalised at the age of 13 and spent over two decades in and out of women’s and children’s prisons. Driven to end the criminalisation and imprisonment of girls and women, Debbie established Sisters Inside, as well as her law firm, Kilroy & Callaghan Lawyers. An unapologetic abolitionist, Debbie’s activism work centres on dismantling the Prison Industrial Complex and all forms of carceral control and exile. With a firm belief that there should be ‘nothing about us without us’, Debbie established the National Network of Incarcerated and Formerly Incarcerated Women and Girls to centre the voices, experiences and aspirations of criminalisation and imprisonment women and girls in order to change the face of justice in this country.
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