Joint Submission: Federal Senate Inquiry into Australia’s youth justice and incarceration system
29 October 2024
The treatment of children and young people in the criminal justice system is one of the most urgent human rights issues in Australia today. While the ACT Government’s commitment to raising the age of criminal responsibility to 14 years of age is a step in the right detention, other jurisdictions remain heavily focused on policing, stricter bail laws, and incarceration. More detention facilities and harsher punishments are not the answer, with such responses only serving to worsen the trauma and inequality driving children and young people’s contact with the justice system in the first place.
In response to the Federal Senate Committee Inquiry into Australia’s youth justice and incarceration system, the Network of Councils of Social Service has prepared a submission which underscores the need to address the social drivers of offending, with a greater focus on prevention and early intervention. Our joint submission highlights the importance of a child rights approach to reform that is underpinned by national leadership and coordination, evidence-based public policy, recognition of the social determinants of incarceration, and the sustainable resourcing of services and community-led programs that genuinely build pathways outside of the justice system.