Class action flagged against Queensland government over treatment of young people in detention

Queensland’s treatment of children in youth detention centres is set to come under further scrutiny, with a national law firm preparing a class action against the state and the Department of Youth Justice.

The state has long faced criticism for its youth justice system, where First Nations children are more than 25 times more likely to be incarcerated than non-Indigenous children. The latest Closing the Gap data shows that Queensland accounts for more than 45 per cent of all Indigenous children and young people in custody across Australia.

This week, Sydney-based firm Levitt Robinson announced it is preparing to launch legal action on behalf of detainees at Cleveland, Brisbane, West Moreton, Sir Leslie Wilson, and John Oxley youth detention centres.

Partner Dana Levitt told National Indigenous Times the case would focus on the punitive and unlawful conditions in which children are being held.

“What we’re looking at is doing something similar to what we’ve done in Western Australia,” she said. “So, looking at the conditions to which children have been subject to in detention, to the extent that they’re unlawful, and doing something about it.”

The firm previously ran the landmark 2016 case Wotton v State of Queensland, which successfully challenged the treatment of Indigenous Palm Islanders in 2004, resulting in an apology from the state government to Palm Islanders for the “violence and discrimination to which they were subjected by police”.

Issues in youth detention

Cleveland Youth Detention Centre in Townsville has been plagued by reports of staff shortages and overcrowding. In August last year, the state’s prison watchdog raised human rights concerns, finding that children were often locked in their cells alone due to staffing shortages, or placed in “separation” — the Queensland government’s term for solitary confinement — rooms without basic facilities such as toilets or running water.

Ms Levitt said that while Cleveland has been in the news, she believed similar conditions exist across other centres.

“So, while Cleveland was initially the focus… I’m certainly not ruling out looking at other detention centres as well,” she said.

She said the firm was now seeking to speak with anyone who had been detained in Queensland’s five youth centres from 2005 onwards.

“My primary focus is talking to as many kids — some of whom will now be adults — who have been detained in Queensland, to find out just how bad their experiences have been, and for how long they’ve been bad,” Ms Levitt said.

Queensland’s youth justice policies have been heavily criticised, particularly after the government introduced its “adult time, adult crime” laws. The government itself acknowledged the laws “may lead to sentences for children that are more punitive than necessary to achieve community safety”.

A report released last year detailed the cases of two disabled Indigenous boys who died after being held in separation for extensive periods in youth custody. Combined, they spent more than 600 days in detention, much of it due to staff shortages.

Last month, Human Rights Law Centre’s First Nations Director Maggie Munn said punitive laws were entrenching inequality and causing lasting damage.

“Children deserve care, not cages, and no child should grow up in a prison cell,” Munn said.

In May, more than 100 First Nations leaders issued a joint statement condemning what they described as the “ongoing violation of human and cultural rights,” particularly “the targeted harm perpetuated against our children and young people”.

“We argue that what is happening in Queensland are egregious breaches of human rights against children, reminiscent of past Queensland Government policies and practices separating children and families,” the statement said.