The Wire

Youth justice advocates have condemned the Queensland Government’s move to override the state’s Human Rights Act and transition watch houses into youth prisons. 

The government recently rushed controversial new laws through parliament – within 24 hours – that allow children to be locked up in adult prisons for the next three years. 

Experts and activists say this transition and the prison system itself is ineffective in changing children’s behaviour. And as it overrides the Human Rights Act, this sends a concerning message that the government is willing to compromise the values which form the foundations of a just and humane society.