Australia’s Indigenous children 18 times more likely to be in detention or under supervision

This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

Fewer children are being held in detention and subjected to community supervision orders, but the rates are dropping much more slowly for Indigenous children.

More than 5,300 children aged between 10 and 17 were in detention or under community supervision by youth justice officers last financial year, a report from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare shows.

There are about 1,000 fewer children under supervision compared with five years ago, but the likelihood of Indigenous children being subject to some sort of youth justice supervision order has risen from 15 to 18 times that of non-Indigenous children.

The rate of non-Indigenous children under supervision has fallen by 22% since the 2012-13 financial year, compared with a 9% drop for Indigenous children.

“This has resulted in even greater Indigenous over-representation in youth justice supervision,” the institute spokesman David Braddock said.

“The states and territories have successfully dropped the rates of both groups but they have had greater success for non-Indigenous kids than Indigenous kids.”

Don Dale: no charges to be laid over royal commission findings Read more

The report found of all the children under youth justice supervision, more than 83% were supervised in the community.

Half of those under both types of supervision on an average day were Indigenous, despite the fact that only about 5% of 10-17 year olds across Australia are Indigenous.

Indigenous children made up 48% of those under community-based supervision, while almost three in five of those held in detention were Indigenous.

They were also more likely to have multiple supervision orders than non-Indigenous kids, and spent 13 days longer under supervision.

“Rates of youth justice supervision varied among the states and territories, reflecting, in part, the fact that each state and territory has its own legislation, policies, and practices,” said the report, which was released on Friday.

In 2016–17, the rate of young people aged 10–17 under supervision on an average day ranged from 13 per 10,000 in Victoria to 67 per 10,000 in the Northern Territory.

“Indigenous young people were over-represented in youth justice supervision in every state and territory,” the report said.

On Thursday the Northern Territory police said no charges would be laid following an investigation relating to the royal commission into its youth justice system.

The decision was made despite the commission having found that officers restrained children, used force including restraint chairs, and used isolation cells inappropriately.

Last September, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, Victoria Tauli-Corpuz, urged the federal government to introduce targets to reduce Indigenous incarceration rates.

She described the detention of young Indigenous children as “most distressing” and a “major human rights concern”.