7am The national shame of locking up 10 year olds
Feb 1, 2026
Caitlin Reiger, CEO at the Human Rights Law Centre, legal expert on Australia’s international obligations. Jade Lane, CEO of Change the Record, advocate for reducing Indigenous incarceration. They discuss children as young as ten being detained, extreme First Nations overrepresentation, remand and access issues, refusal of UN inspections, and community-led alternatives to incarceration.
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Disproportionate Indigenous Detention
- First Nations children make up the majority of kids aged 10–17 in detention across Australia.
- In places like Queensland and the Northern Territory, 90–99% of locked-up kids are First Nations children.
High Rates Of Remand Among Children
- Around 80% of children in youth detention are held on remand and haven't been sentenced.
- This constitutes arbitrary detention and raises human rights violations flagged by a UN delegation.
Children Left In Darkness
- Children as young as 10 report being left in darkness for days while detained.
- Workers and kids give firsthand accounts describing the clinical and awful conditions in facilities.