A large majority of more than 3,000 children detained in Queensland police watch houses last year were Indigenous, data released under freedom of information laws shows.
The Queensland government has been under pressure to end the practice of keeping children in police custody for extended periods, the result of overcrowding in the state’s youth detention system.
The data, obtained by Amnesty International Australia, shows the practice disproportionately affected Indigenous children, who were detained in greater numbers and for longer periods.
It shows that 18 10-year-olds were detained in police custody in 2018. Teenagers aged 16 and 17 were in police custody for up to 26 days. In November, 85 children were detained in watch houses across the state.
Almost two-thirds of the children kept in watch houses were Indigenous, despite making up about 5% of the total Queensland population, and 2,050 Indigenous children were detained, compared with 1,100 non-Indigenous children.
On average, non-Indigenous children were detained in watch houses for 19 hours. For Indigenous children, the typical length of detention was 28 hours.
Tammy Solonec, the Indigenous rights manager at Amnesty, said the Queensland government must explain why Indigenous children were less likely to be placed in alternative accommodation.
“There is an obvious lack of support for Indigenous children and their families in the community – Indigenous-led programs are the proven solution, they must be supported and invested in,” Solonec said. “Queensland must also adopt meaningful justice and reoffending targets for children.
“The government, and the police, must act to address the overrepresentation of Indigenous children. Some of the government’s initiatives will address this, but the real solution is a genuine commitment to the principle of detaining children as a last resort. This must be enshrined in legislation and upheld by magistrates and police.”
Amnesty has been calling on the Queensland government to raise the age of criminal responsibility to 14.
Last month the state announced that no children remained in the state’s largest watch house, in Brisbane city. Queensland has also created a new Department of Youth Justice in response to concerns about the treatment of children and conditions in custody.
