The Traditional Owners of this land are those who identify as
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples.

Sovereignty was never ceded.

ANTAR pays respect to Elders past, present, and emerging through our dedicated advocacy for First Nations Peoples’ justice and rights.

ANTAR acknowledges the responsibility of committing to a truth-telling process that promotes an honest and respectful path forward for future generations to build upon.

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Resources Australia’s youth justice and incarceration system

Australia’s youth justice and incarceration system

Blake Cansdale Jessica Johnston
Last edited: October 16, 2024

In this submission, ANTAR provides commentary and makes recommendations on Australia’s youth justice and incarceration system, with a particular focus on the criminalisation, over-incarceration and mistreatment of First Nations children in criminal legal systems, which has long been a crisis.

Whilst ANTAR is encouraged to see Australia’s first nationwide inquiry into youth justice and incarceration, we are disheartened by the continuing lack of government action on the many evidence-based recommendations that have come out of various state and territory inquiries, royal commissions and similar processes, several of which took place decades ago. Perhaps most notably, it has been 33 years since the release of the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody Final Report, with specific recommendations targeted at breaking the cycle of First Nations young people disproportionately forced into contact with the criminal legal system. A 2021 review found that most of these recommendations remain unimplemented.