Backlash as the UN condemns Australia’s youth incarceration

Image:shutterstock – PakulinSergei

The United Nations has condemn Australian policy on youth incarceration at last weeks Universal Period Review. Australia’s Permanent Representative to the UN Sally Mansfield did not accept  recommendations to raise the age of criminal responsibility to 15 nationally, which is at present the responsibility of each individual State and Territory.

It comes after  15 years of pressure from The Committee on the Rights of the Child and a publicly released submission to the Attorney-General from 48 domestic Organisations in May of this year.

In some jurisdictions the age of criminal responsibility is as young as 10 years of age, with Indigenous youth disproportionately represented in statistics.

Produced By: Jarred Cross

Featured In Story: Prof. Heather Douglas – Melbourne Law School , Matthew Keeley – Director, Youth Law Australia, Rodney Dillon – Amnesty Intl Australia, Indigenous Rights Advisor, and

First aired on The Wire, Tuesday 13 July 2021