Children are being detained in Queensland watch houses for almost six weeks, with one of the state's most prominent former judges describing it as "shameful", and a review has been launched into the escalating crisis.
The alarming number of children being held for prolonged periods across the state comes as the Queensland government prepares to introduce tougher penalties for young offenders and public outrage about youth crime in the community.
The ABC can reveal at least one young person has been detained in a watch house for 39 days this year and the mother of a 17-year-old has described the impact on her son of the 31 days he spent detained in a watch house cell intended for stays of one to two nights.
"The issue I have is not about whether he should or shouldn't be in there; it's about the conditions of the watch house for him and for other kids," the mother of the 17-year-old said.
"During that time he had no sunlight, no daylight, anything like that and as a result he's now got some health issues where his hair has actually fallen out and he's lacking in vitamins."
The teenager was charged over an alleged serious assault involving other youths and the following day was denied bail and kept in custody.
He's since been transferred to a youth detention centre to await his next court date.
His mother said while she understood community frustration over youth crime, she wanted to highlight the conditions, which she believed weren't helpful for her son's rehabilitation.
She said watch house staff and youth justice workers offered him the support they could, but felt the system was at fault for him being held there, rather than a detention centre.
"As the days moved on and on and on, he was getting more depressed and having some mental health concerns," she said.
In a statement, Queensland police said people detained in watch houses have access to showers and toilets, fresh air and have additional dedicated TV access and exercise.
Young offenders are held in watch houses until they are released on bail or a bed becomes available at one of the states juvenile detention centres, with data provided to the ABC showing 285 of the 306 beds were occupied as at February 16.
Commissioner orders review
Queensland Family and Child Commission principal commissioner Luke Twyford said it was "completely unacceptable" young people were being held for more than a month and he has ordered a full review.
"Over the past couple of months, I have seen the rates of young people being held in watch houses almost double and the length of their stay increasing and I want to understand what's driving that," he said.
Mr Twyford said watch houses compounded trauma for young people and were mental and physically unsafe places for them to stay.
"Let's be very clear: a watch house is a temporary place for police officers to hold a person they've arrested," he said.
"They are cells and prison-like settings where there are limited amenities, and young people held in those situations are exposed to violence and anti-social behaviour from the adults also being held there."
The Queensland Police Service (QPS) operation manual says wherever practicable, children are not to be kept in a watch house and should only be held overnight if they can't be immediately transported to a youth detention centre.
"It may be necessary for the child to be kept in custody in a watch house for two or more consecutive nights … this constitutes an extraordinary circumstance," the manual states.
Mr Twyford said he would be calling for submissions as part of the review and was committed to releasing it publicly once completed later this year.
The state government is proposing to build two more juvenile detention centres in the south east and Cairns to deal with capacity issues, but they're only in the "early planning stages".
'It's shameful for our community'
Former Queensland Court of Appeal president Margaret McMurdo agreed it was a serious human rights issue.
"It is a basic youth justice principle that children should be only detained in custody in suitable forms of detention and watch houses are certainly not suitable," she said.
"Queensland's detention of children in watch houses and youth detention has gone up about 27 per cent in recent times, and it's much higher than in other comparable states.
"It's shameful for our community actually, it's shameful."
Ms McMurdo is a patron of the Justice Reform Initiative, which last year released a report finding Queensland imprisons the highest number of children Australia-wide, with the youth prison population increasing 27.3 per cent over the past seven years.
This year alone, 36 young people have spent more than three weeks in a police watch house, according to the Queensland Police Service.
Police also confirmed a young person has spent 39 days detained in a watch house.
Youth Justice Minister Leanne Linard would not comment on the individual cases, but said in a statement young people were not held in watch houses any longer than required.
"Most young people are held in watch houses for a short period and each day Youth Justice undertakes assessments to prioritise admissions to detention centres," she said.
"Young people in watch houses are provided a range of services, including legal advocacy, bail and cultural support, mental health support and assessment, and direct assistance from youth justice staff."
State government 'was warned'
Youth Advocacy Centre CEO Katherine Hayes said the Palaszczuk government was warned in 2021 when it proposed changes to youth justice laws, which included a presumption against bail, that the system wouldn't be able to cope.
"The changes to the bail laws have had a big impact on the numbers of young people in detention," she said.
"That has increased the numbers greatly and has meant there has been an overflow into the watch houses.
"This current crisis is entirely foreseeable, and the government was warned about it by various agencies back in 2019, 2020 and 2021, but the government hasn't heeded those warnings."
The 2021 law changes were sparked by a number of high-profile incidents committed by young offenders, including the deaths of Matthew Field and Kate Leadbetter who were struck by a stolen vehicle driven by a teenager at Alexandra Hills.
Further reforms targeting youth offenders were announced several weeks ago by the premier after the death of Emma Lovell, who was allegedly stabbed in the chest by two teenagers on Boxing Day.
The changes, which include more severe punishments for violent offenders like increasing the maximum penalty for car thefts, are set to be introduced to Queensland Parliament next week.
Pressure builds on Palaszczuk government
The issue of youth crime has reached boiling point in the past few months after a spate of alleged serious crimes involving young offenders across the state.
It included the alleged murder of 43-year-old David George Connolly less than a kilometre from his home in the inner-Brisbane suburb of Wilston in January.
This month, two incidents also shocked regional communities including the death of 75-year-old Toowoomba man Robert Brown, who died from injuries suffered during an alleged violent robbery by four teenagers.
There was also an outpouring of grief from the Fraser Coast after the death of 47-year-old Scott Cabrie, who was allegedly murdered by teenage passengers while working as an Uber driver.
The Palaszczuk government has been under pressure to tackle the issue amid community calls for stronger action, and demands from advocates and experts for an evidence-based approach to dealing with serious repeat young offenders.
Ms McMurdo said the state government's approach, including its 2021 reforms, weren't achieving its intended purpose to keep the community safe.
"It was brought in because people thought, 'well, if we do this then the community is going to be safer' — but it hasn't happened that way," she said.
"If you're just locking kids up, and you're treating them brutally and callously, and you're not addressing the problems of their behaviour and supporting them in the community … you're not going to solve the problem.
"You're just going to increase the problem, which seems to be what is happening at the moment."
'A very unhelpful attack' on judiciary
Ms McMurdo also warned the government against making comments aimed at the judiciary and labelled recent remarks by Deputy Premier Steven Miles over a magistrate's decision to release several alleged youth offenders on bail as an "attack".
"I think it's a very unhelpful attack on the independence of the judiciary and it's disappointing," she said.
"It's perhaps easy for politicians to make these comments on the run when they're asked a question and they haven't really thought through the consequences.
"But it's a fundamental principle of our democracy that the judiciary must be independent."
Mr Miles remark has also been admonished by the Queensland Law Society and Bar Association of Queensland, which called his comments "unacceptable" and warned the government "to be respectful of the doctrine of the separation of powers".
Mr Miles's office has been contacted for comment.
