Open letter calls for immediate halt to planned bush camps for kids

A peak national group representing First Nations children has urged the Queensland government to withdraw a controversial new youth justice bill, citing fears for the safety and welfare of vulnerable kids.

Sue-Anne Hunter, the National Commissioner for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children and Young People, wrote to the Queensland Legislative Assembly on Wednesday to call for the immediate withdrawal and amendment of the Crisafulli government’s youth justice “circuit breaker” legislation.

The bill, announced in June, allows for children as young as 10 to be sent to bush camps for “intensive rehabilitation” for up to six months as an alternative to detention.

Hunter said the legislation in its current form would directly harm children – mostly First Nations children – and she criticised its lack of independent oversight and protections for kids.

“Sites where children are held [are] not prescribed as places of detention,” Hunter wrote.

“They will not be subject to inspection under the Inspector of Detention Services Act 2022. No independent inspector will walk through the door unannounced.”

Of particular concern, she continued, was a section that provides a reasonable excuse for a provider, employee or contractor not to report harm to a child if doing so might incriminate them.

“The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Service, Legal Aid Queensland, the Queensland Family and Child Commission and the Office of the Public Guardian all told the committee this should be removed,” the letter said.

“The committee acknowledged the concern and recommended no change.”

Hunter said the laws stripped children of a reliable way to raise reports of harm themselves, and asked the committee to consider if this was a fair way to treat young people.

“Queensland has been here before. The youth boot camps of 2013 to 2015 were independently evaluated and found wanting on family engagement, cost and reintegration,” she said.

“That report is more than decades old, and its lessons remain unlearned.”

Queensland Youth Justice Minister Laura Gerber was contacted for comment.

Youth Advocacy Centre chief executive Katherine Hayes said she shared Hunter’s concerns about reporting exemptions and lack of independent oversight.

“Even in detention centres and watch houses where there’s a huge amount of oversight, we hear on a weekly basis of kids’ human rights being breached,” she said.

“So to have a remote area with exemptions to reporting with kids who really have such low expectations of how they have to be treated … I think it is a really poor model of rehabilitation, and it’s unlikely to result in a reduction in offending.”

Hunter also feared service providers would not be required to consider disability and neurodevelopmental needs, despite children with complex needs being heavily represented in the youth justice system.

She recommended the bill be withdrawn immediately and rebuilt with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community consultation.

The Justice, Integrity and Community Safety Committee recommended the bill be passed without amendments last week. It is expected to be tabled when parliament resumes next week.

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