The Queensland Government, which this week extended its Adult Crime, Adult Time laws so that youth offenders will receive adult sentences for 33 nominated offences, is coming under increasing criticism for undermining human rights, and especially those of First Nations children.
Below are links to statements published by the Bandarran Marra’Gu Gathering Strength Summit First Nations leaders, human rights experts, and the National Network of Incarcerated and Formerly Incarcerated Women and Girls, together with a comment by SNAICC.
Statement from Bandarran Marra’Gu Gathering Strength Summit
Statement on 21 May: Bandarran Marra’Gu Gathering Strength Summit brought First Nations leaders together from across Queensland and the message is clear: rights are not negotiable.
The Bandarran Marra’Gu Gathering Strength Summit, which was held on 19 and 20 May in Magan-djin (Brisbane), has issued a Statement delivering a powerful message on human rights from its First Nations participants.
This event provided a unique opportunity for First Nations community members to come together and consider how to uphold, promote and protect the human rights of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
Hosted by the Queensland Human Rights Commission, together with the Australian Human Rights Commission and the Queensland Family and Child Commission, at the Queensland State Library, the Summit brought together community members of all ages from across Queensland.
The Summit provided a safe and respectful space to discuss the impact of recent government decisions on the human rights of First Nations peoples in Queensland, gather strength and consider a way forward. It was an opportunity to reflect on how First Nations peoples can achieve freedom, respect, equality, dignity and self-determination in their everyday lives.
The discussion amongst Summit attendees considered how the four streams of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous peoples – self-determination, cultural integrity and preservation, protection from discrimination and participation in decision-making – can be advanced.
First Nations participants considered new and positive ways forward through the promotion and protection of human rights and discussed ways to move forward on high-priority issues raised at the Summit, particularly the safety of First Nations children at risk of harm from structural and systemic discrimination and institutional violence.
The Statement from participants delivers a powerful call to government to listen to the combined voices and experience of First Nations elders, and all generations, to promote, protect and uphold their human rights. The priority focus must be protecting First Nations children and young people.
This important event was one step in advancing the rights of Queensland’s First Nations communities to self-determination and building a Queensland where everyone feels safe and welcome.
Queensland Human Rights Commissioner, Scott McDougall said:
“Human rights are fundamental to all efforts to improve the lives of First Nations peoples in Queensland. With the growing challenges to human rights in Queensland, and Australia, it is more important than ever to provide an environment to ensure the voices of First Nations peoples are prioritised in the ongoing efforts to uphold their rights.”
“I am pleased that the Bandarran Marra’Gu Gathering Strength Summit provided a safe space for First Nations community members across Queensland to come together to take stock of the status of their rights as Indigenous peoples. The Commission is proud to have supported this important step as an exercise of self-determination.”
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner, Katie Kiss said:
“The Summit reaffirmed that our individual and collective rights are not negotiable. They are not a privilege. They are a responsibility.”
“We are rights holders, entitled to self-determination, cultural integrity, participation in decision-making, equality and non-discrimination. We want truth, justice and healing for our people and our future generations.”
“Australian governments have a duty to ensure compliance with international human rights obligations and embed the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in legislative frameworks that affect us.”
Queensland Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children’s Commissioner, Natalie Lewis:
“The Bandarran Marra’Gu Gathering Strength Summit was not about organisational agendas, it was not about our status, our positional power or profiles. It was about connecting, on our own terms, centring our rights, our culture and harnessing our collective power and commitment to our future generations.”
“An important point of difference for the summit – we have been intentional about ensuring we create space for young people to participate in these discussions, in having meaningful input in creating a path forward.”
Statement by UN experts
Statement on 19 May: Two independent human rights experts on torture and Indigenous peoples have sharply criticised state and territory youth justice systems in Australia, where disproportionately large numbers of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children continue to be jailed.
“The various criminal legal systems operating in Australia appear to be in crisis nationwide,” said Alice Jill Edwards, the Special Rapporteur on torture and Albert K. Barume, Special Rapporteur on the rights of Indigenous Peoples.
“Children are suffering undue harm to their safety and well-being, as well as to their educational and life prospects as a result of short-sighted approaches to youth criminality and detention.”
In a letter to Australian authorities, the experts expressed considerable concern about a bill proposed in Queensland that is due to be adopted this week [note from Croakey: subsequently adopted].
“Many new or proposed state laws, including Queensland’s Making Queensland Safer (Adult Crime, Adult Time) Amendment Bill, are incompatible with basic child rights,” the experts said.
“If passed, the Queensland bill would result in additional adult penalties being applied to children for a wide range of offences. This would have an especially negative impact on the lives of Indigenous children, who are already disproportionately represented in the criminal legal system. We urge members of the Queensland Parliament to vote against the bill.”
The experts propose a child-centred approach that reflects international law and best practice. This should involve more comprehensive strategies in tackling young people’s anti-social and criminal behaviour.
The age of criminal responsibility in most Australian states and territories is 10. This is younger than in most other industrialised countries. Australia has been widely criticised for not adhering to international recommended standards.
“The first goal should always be keeping children out of prison. We are extremely concerned that present approaches are creating a future under-class of Australians,” the experts said. “Juvenile facilities should prioritise education and rehabilitation to support childhood development. Criminal justice reform alone does not result in fewer anti-social or criminal behaviours.”
The experts stressed that the allegations constitute violations of Australia’s international obligations with regard to children, including the obligation to protect them from torture and other forms of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, treat them humanely and with dignity at all times, and prioritise their best interests in all decisions affecting them.
Alice Jill Edwards, Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment; Albert K. Barume, Special Rapporteur on the rights of Indigenous Peoples.
Special Rapporteurs/Independent Experts/Working Groups are independent human rights experts appointed by the United Nations Human Rights Council. Together, these experts are referred to as the Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council. Special Procedures experts work on a voluntary basis; they are not UN staff and do not receive a salary for their work. While the UN Human Rights office acts as the secretariat for Special Procedures, the experts serve in their individual capacity and are independent from any government or organization, including OHCHR and the UN. Any views or opinions presented are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of the UN or OHCHR.
National Network of Incarcerated and Formerly Incarcerated Women and Girls
Statement on 22 May: The National Network of Incarcerated and Formerly Incarcerated Women and Girls condemns in the strongest terms the passing of the second tranche of the Adult Crime, Adult Time laws in Queensland Parliament.
‘These laws represent not only a deep betrayal of the children of this state, but a fundamental failure of leadership, morality, and care,’ said Tabitha Lean.
‘Premier David Crisafulli has chosen carceral expansion over care, punishment over prevention, and political opportunism over the safety and wellbeing of the most vulnerable. By treating children as adults in the criminal legal system, the Premier is abrogating his duty to uphold the basic human rights of the children in his care. He is not leading—he is disappearing children into cages,’ said Tabitha Lean.
This is not about community safety. This is about abandonment.
‘The Premier’s rhetoric of “restoring consequences” obscures a brutal truth: these laws are designed to criminalise trauma, to disappear the most disadvantaged children—many of whom have been targeted by the so called “child protection system”, the education system, and the housing system, and pipelined into a prison system that has never made any of our communities safer,’ said Tabitha Lean.
‘The state’s own data shows that many of these children have been pipelined into the punishment system from residential care. That pipeline will now end in adult courtrooms and adult prisons,’ said Tabitha Lean.
‘Let us be clear: criminalisation is not care. Imprisoning children is not protection. These laws are a grotesque distortion of justice, driven by fear, racism, and punishment politics. They are an attack on the very idea that children are still becoming—still worthy of love, support, healing, and a future,’ said Tabitha Lean.
‘As a National Network, we do not believe that prisons or punishment can ever create safety. What creates safety is housing, education, healthcare, community, and unconditional care. What prevents harm is resourcing our families, not arresting our children,’ said Tabitha Lean.
‘Premier Crisafulli’s government has chosen to cast children as threats instead of treating them as people in need of support and compassion. This legislation is a calculated attempt to erase childhood altogether for criminalised and racialised young people—especially Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children, who will be disproportionately targeted by these laws,’ said Tabitha Lean.
We will not be silent as this government disappears our young people behind bars.
‘The National Network will continue to build the world we know is possible—one where children are held, not harmed. One where safety is rooted in justice and dignity, not surveillance and control. One where the politics of fear are replaced by a politics of care,’ said Tabitha Lean.
‘Queensland’s children deserve more than this. They deserve care, not cages,’ said Tabitha Lean.
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