A federal inquiry has urged the government to develop a national standards for youth detention and a public awareness campaign to counter a "false narrative" about youth crime.
The federal government says it will consider the recommendations and provide a formal response "in due course."
The inquiry — authored by Liberal, Labor and Greens party members — found youth justice laws and practices were "fragmented" across states and territories, which meant young people had different levels of support, protections and treatment.
The sector is now guided by the Australasian Youth Justice Administrators' national standards, but the committee heard these were "aspirational" instead of "mandatory".
A spokesperson for the federal Attorney-General Michelle Rowland said it was committed to addressing youth over-representation, especially among First Nations young people, in the criminal justice system.
5 sentences from our version of the report,
chosen to cover it. Nothing here is written; every line is in the article below.
How
Summarized version
It also noted 56 per cent of the children under youth justice supervision nationally were First Nations. Only three senators supported the push to raise the age.
Headline check
All two things this headline claims are in the report.
Figures, names and quoted words in the headline, looked for in the report itself — not in the summary above. How this is checked
The article, shortened and in plain language
A federal inquiry has urged the government to develop a national standards for youth detention and a public awareness campaign to counter a "false narrative" about youth crime.
The peak body for Indigenous legal services has accused states and territories of a "race to the bottom" on youth justice.
The federal government says it will consider the recommendations and provide a formal response "in due course."
A federal inquiry into Australia's youth justice systems has urged the government to adopt national minimum standards for how states and territories manage young people in contact with the law.
The inquiry — authored by Liberal, Labor and Greens party members — found youth justice laws and practices were "fragmented" across states and territories, which meant young people had different levels of support, protections and treatment.
The inquiry also called for a national taskforce of child justice, police and other agencies to ensure reforms were consistent across states and territories, and a further inquiry on the factors driving youth incarceration.
The committee heard Australia was failing to meet its international obligations under the Rights of the Child and human rights conventions.
The sector is now guided by the Australasian Youth Justice Administrators' national standards, but the committee heard these were "aspirational" instead of "mandatory".
Lidia Thorpe said it was a missed opportunity and Australia remained "behind the rest of the world."
A spokesperson for the federal Attorney-General Michelle Rowland said it was committed to addressing youth over-representation, especially among First Nations young people, in the criminal justice system.
Shortened to 1 minute
of reading, this version reads 6 on the Niral Score.
You are reading our version, not theirs.
This is ABC News's report shortened to its most important sentences, in plainer words, with
verdicts and loaded words taken out. Plain description stays, and so do adjectives
that carry a fact, such as "former" or "federal". The reporting, the facts and the quotations
are theirs — quotations are never edited — and the indicators beside it measure
this version. Hover or tap Adjectives to see every one left in the text.
How this outlet filed it, and how we rewrote it
No other newsroom we read has filed on this event, so there is nothing to compare it with yet.
Readers can ask a question about this story here.
Questions and answers are for subscribers.
Sign in
to read them.
Comments are read before they appear where anything in them needs a person to look.
Nothing posted here is ever deleted; a comment taken down keeps its text and the reason,
so the decision can be looked at again. How this works