IT WAS the picture of an issue Australia had ignored for far too long.

Images of a teenager in detention wearing a spit hood while strapped to a chair went viral, attracting global criticism and shock.

A report released today by Human Rights Watch has shone a critical light into children’s rights and their treatment in detention.

The Human Rights Watch World Report 2017 also reveals concerns raised in several other areas including our treatment of asylum seekers and refugees, indigenous rights, counter-terrorism laws and foreign policy.

In the 687-page report, Human Rights Watch reviews human rights practices in more than 90 countries.

HRW said the Australian Government’s failure to protect children in detention caused lasting damage to our reputation as a rights-respecting country.

The footage of a teenage Dylan Voller being strapped to a chair with his head covered by a spit hood, as well as other footage of children in detention, drew attention to the “fundamental failures of Australia’s youth justice system.”

HRW said the footage which showed children being abused while being held in NT and QLD detention centres led to a number of government inquiries.

It also showed indigenous children are substantially over-represented in the criminal justice system, it said.

Australian Director of Human Rights Watch Elaine Pearson told news.com.au the issue of children being abused in detention had been going on for some time, however action was only taken following extensive media coverage and an ensuing backlash over the issue.

“The Northern Territory government knew about this for ages yet only acted on it after this media coverage,” she said.

Ms Pearson said the issue raised questions into how Australia treated its vulnerable people.

The ensuring media coverage also prompted Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull to announce a royal commission into the mistreatment of children in detention in the Northern Territory.

Ms Pearson said the fallout came as Australia was vying for a seat on the Human Rights Council and the country needed to address criticisms and answer questions surrounding these issues.

Australia could no longer hold itself up as a protector of rights while pretending we didn’t have issues here as well, she said.

However, it wasn’t just detention where children’s rights attracted criticism.

According to HRW, the Turnbull government’s introduction of counter-terrorism laws last year “incrementally chipped away at fundamental rights.”

It said control orders being extended to children as young as 14 was also a cause for concern and a “knee jerk reaction” to a horrible event.

While the murder of Curtis Cheng in October 2015 was tragic, control orders being extended to children was an extreme reaction, Ms Pearson said.

Mr Cheng, an accountant with the police, was shot dead in a kerbside attack at Parramatta, in Sydney on October 2. His killer, self-radicalised Farhad Jabar, 15, was shot dead by police.

The government also passed a law allowing post-sentence detention for people convicted of terrorism offences who have served their sentences but are deemed to pose an “unacceptable risk” of reoffending.

Ms Pearson said the laws were extreme and no other country had done this.

She also said such restrictive laws would only isolate vulnerable and at risk youths instead of helping them.

An order of post-sentence detention may be made on the basis of secret evidence for up to three years at a time and renewed indefinitely was also a cause for concern, HRW said.

“Indefinite and arbitrary detention of prisoners who have already served their time undermines the rule of law, a crucial component of countering terrorism,” Ms Pearson said.

“While Australia has a responsibility to protect its citizens from harm, this shouldn’t come at the cost of undermining basic rights.”

Ms Pearson said Australia could no longer reject international criticism of its offshore processing of refugees and asylum seekers either.

“There are lots of ways Australia can deter boat arrivals without locking them up in another country,” she said.

“For example we could better support transit countries so people can remain there.”

Ms Pearson said refugees and asylum seekers being left to languish in limbo after years of detention and children being potentially subjected to easy-to-abuse control orders should be issues questioned by all Australians.

“If Australia wants to be a global human rights leader, then it should take immediate steps to end these unlawful policies,” she said.

While recognising Australia as a vibrant multicultural democracy with a strong record of protecting civil and political rights, HRW said that didn’t mean we were without our own human rights issues.

Aside from children and Australia’s offshore detention policy, HRW also expressed concerns over the country’s high rates of indigenous incarceration which remained 13 times higher than the general population.

Same sex marriage and the fact Australia doesn’t recognise gay couples’ rights to get married was also highlighted in the report which argued a free vote in parliament was needed.

HRW also expressed criticism over the high number of women and girls with disabilities who face higher risk of sexual assault than other women.

It further highlighted people with disabilities were over represented in prison and served longer sentences than the wider population.

“In some cases, people with disabilities have been languishing in prison for years without having been convicted of a crime, simply because the government has not provided alternatives to incarceration,” the report reads.

HRW also criticised Australia’s foreign policy and the fact the government was selective in the countries in chose to raise those issues in.

“It seldom raises human rights concerns publicly about countries it works closely with in interdicting asylum seekers and refugees or with which it has significant trade relations,” the report reads.

News.com.au has contacted the Office of Attoney-General George Brandis for comment regarding the issues mentioned in the report and is awaiting a response.

debra.killalea@news.com.au