UN flags Indigenous detention crisis as Australia seeks Security Council seat
A UN committee raised urgent concerns about Indigenous children in Australian detention being jailed 21 times more often than non-Indigenous peers.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese launched Australia's campaign for a two-year seat on the UN Security Council in New York, with Indigenous Australians Minister Malarndirri McCarthy speaking in her traditional Yanyuwa language.
The United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination issued an urgent warning earlier this year, raising serious concerns about unfair treatment of Indigenous children in schools, healthcare and housing.
This unfair treatment increased their risk of arrest and detention. Last year the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare found Indigenous young people aged 10 to 17 made up 60 per cent of the youth detention population.
But they are only 6.6 per cent of the general population. The committee also criticized states and territories allowing children aged 10 to face adult criminal penalties, including life sentences.
The UN had earlier started an investigation into Indigenous youth detention in Australia.
- 60 per cent of population
- Indigenous youth in detention
- 6.6 per cent
- Indigenous general population
- 10 years
- Age of criminal responsibility
- UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention
- UN investigating body
Why it mattersAustralia wants a seat at the UN's highest table. But its own record on Indigenous youth detention hurts its standing. The country claims to support human rights and racial justice. This record shows those claims are hard to believe.
AustraliaIndigenous youth detention remains a critical policy failure, with numbers rising; Australia faces international scrutiny over its handling of the issue.
✓ Claims checked against the source. checked 4 d ago
