(Bangkok) – The Australian government increasingly violated the rights of children in the criminal justice system in 2024, Human Rights Watch said today in its World Report 2025. Authorities in Queensland and Western Australia detained children in facilities designed for adults, while the Northern Territory government lowered the age of criminal responsibility from 12 years to 10.
For the 546-page world report, in its 35th edition, Human Rights Watch reviewed human rights practices in more than 100 countries. In much of the world, Executive Director Tirana Hassan writes in her introductory essay, governments cracked down and wrongfully arrested and imprisoned political opponents, activists, and journalists. Armed groups and government forces unlawfully killed civilians, drove many from their homes, and blocked access to humanitarian aid. In many of the more than 70 national elections in 2024, authoritarian leaders gained ground with their discriminatory rhetoric and policies.
“The Australian government’s treatment of children in its criminal justice system went from bad to worse in 2024,” said Annabel Hennessy, Australia researcher at Human Rights Watch. “These increasing violations are a blot on Australia’s human rights reputation globally.”
- In May, a parliamentary inquiry report recommended establishing a Human Rights Act to ensure effective protection of human rights under Australian law.
- Australia’s cruel treatment of asylum seekers remains a serious and persistent rights concern, with the federal government violating its international obligations by sending those who attempt to arrive by boat to offshore detention in Nauru.
- The Northern Territory government announced it would resume the use of spit hoods – head coverings – on children in detention. Australia’s human rights commissioner, Lorraine Finlay, said in 2023: “The use of spit hoods poses significant risks of injury and death.”
- The federal government rarely used its sanctions regime against those implicated in human rights abuses abroad. The Australian government has yet to sanction any Chinese officials.
As the only Western democracy without a national human rights act or charter, the Australian government should promptly introduce a new national Human Rights Act, Human Rights Watch said.