NT Government resumes jailing 10 year old children
The Human Rights Law Centre has condemned harsh new laws rushed through by the NT Government that will jail 10 year old children again.
The laws, passed in the first parliamentary sitting week of the new government, will take the Northern Territory backwards and set a dangerous precedent for children’s rights and safety nationwide.
Prison is devastating for children, and has lifelong impacts on their health, development, mental health and wellbeing. The earlier a child is locked away in prison, the more the child is at risk of being entrenched in the criminal legal system and recriminalised later in life.
The NT Government’s laws will result in disproportionately Aboriginal children and children with disabilities being locked up in prison and police cells. Instead of locking up children, the NT Government should be investing in Aboriginal-led services which keep children healthy, strong and connected to their families and communities.
Quotes attributable to Maggie Munn, First Nations Justice Director, Human Rights Law Centre:
“The Finocchiaro Government’s regressive laws will discriminate against First Nations people, put children in jail and destroy families and communities. Children should grow up in playgrounds and in our communities, not in prison cells.
“Less than two years after being the first jurisdiction to raise the minimum age of criminal responsibility, the Northern Territory have condemned children, particularly First Nations children who are disproportionately incarcerated, to the trauma of the criminal legal system. Our children deserve better than what this new government is condemning them to.
“It is deeply shameful that the new NT Government’s first move is to lower the age of criminal responsibility and ram through laws that will further criminalise First Nations communities and their children instead of providing the support and care they need.
“The NT Government must listen to experts across the Territory who have the solutions and the answers to the offending behaviour we’re seeing – communities know what works best for them.”
Media Contact:
Chandi Bates
Media and Communications Manager
Human Rights Law Centre
0430 277 254
chandi.bates@hrlc.org.au
Media Enquiries
Chandi Bates
Media and Communications Manager
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