UNICEF Australia’s response to Senate Inquiry into Australia’s Youth Justice and Incarceration System

Today, the Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs References Committee released its final report on the inquiry into Australia’s youth justice and incarceration system. The report represents an important step towards once-in-a-generation change, where community safety, accountability and children’s rights go hand in hand.

We were proud to contribute oral and written evidence to the inquiry alongside frontline workers, health professionals, First Nations leaders, lawyers, commissioners, advocates, and children and young people. Together, we delivered a clear message: the current youth justice system is not working. But there is a better way forward.

Communities deserve to feel safe. Yet the evidence shows that detention-focused responses fail to reduce reoffending, with around 84% of children released from supervised detention returning to sentenced supervision within a year.

That's why UNICEF Australia has long called for greater investment in restorative justice, justice reinvestment and early intervention to reduce reoffending, support victims and strengthen communities.

We commend the Committee for listening to the evidence and lived experience shared throughout the inquiry, including on the drivers of youth offending, the role of the media in shaping public opinion, and the disproportionate impacts on First Nations children and young people.

We strongly support the Committee's recommendation that the Attorney-General work with states and territories to introduce national minimum standards for youth justice, a reform UNICEF Australia has long advocated for.

Grounded in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, these standards should protect children's rights across the youth justice continuum, from prevention and diversion through to detention and reintegration. They should guarantee access to essential services, culturally safe and trauma-informed support, protection from harmful practices in detention, and robust monitoring, accountability and data collection mechanisms.

Importantly, we recommend that these standards be enforceable to ensure nationally consistent protections for children and accountability for compliance across all jurisdictions.

We encourage the Australian Government to accept the Committee's recommendations and work with states and territories to:

Introduce enforceable national minimum standards for youth justice across Australia.
Establish a cross-portfolio National Child and Community Safety Taskforce to coordinate national reform across justice, education, health, disability, social services and employment systems.
Undertake a public education campaign that provides evidence-based information about youth crime and highlights the benefits of prevention, diversion and alternatives to detention in improving community safety.

We also hope to see consideration of additional recommendations put forward in the inquiry that align with the evidence presented, particularly those relating to:

addressing the over-representation of First Nations children in the youth justice system;
strengthening responses to family violence and its link to youth justice involvement;
improving access to health, developmental and neurodevelopmental assessment and support; and
investing in community-based earlier intervention and prevention.

The majority report also recommends a further inquiry into the factors contributing to youth incarceration, which would help strengthen the evidence-base. While we continue to take steps to better understand the drivers of offending, we should prioritise in the first instance implementation of the substantial evidence and recommendations already available through this and previous inquiries.

Today's report demonstrates that there is hope across the political spectrum that change is possible.

Let's be there for every child before they enter the youth justice system, creating pathways for them to contribute to safer, stronger communities and a better future for Australia.

Tony Stuart, UNICEF Australia’s CEO, says: "Today's report shows that a different approach to youth justice is urgently needed and provides a clear starting point for change. It's time to move from inquiry to action and deliver the reforms that children, young people and communities deserve."

Friday, 18 September 2026