Across Australia, children as young as ten can be arrested, charged and detained under criminal law. This approach continues to disproportionately affect Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children. This position paper argues that raising the minimum age of criminal responsibility is a necessary shift toward justice systems that respect community-led ways of caring for children.

This review of the incarceration of children in Australia was unable to further progress its inquiries due to the calling of the 2025 Federal election. This final report recommends that the Senate take note of the interim report and re-refer the inquiry in the new Parliament.

A joint submission to the United Nations Human Rights Committee, to support preparations for Australia’s seventh periodic review of its human rights performance under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). It outlines a number of detention-related issues relevant to the Committee’s consideration of Australia’s implementation of the ICCPR, reflecting key concerns.

This report details a parliamentary committee review of a Bill proposed to add 20 offences to Queensland's ‘adult crime, adult time’ sentencing scheme. The committee is satisfied that the Bill gives sufficient regard to the rights and liberties of individuals, despite finding that the Bill is not compatible with human rights as defined in the...

This article introduces the concept of justice reinvestment (JR) as defined and applied in Australia by First Nations people, including as a mechanism with potential to reduce over-representation of young First Nations people in the justice system. It draws on specific examples from longer-standing JR initiatives and their implementation of JR elements.