9.3 Children in conflict with the law (a) Monitoring and oversight of juvenile detention 327. Australia’s ratification of OPCAT provides an important opportunity to systematically and regularly monitor juvenile detention facilities across Australia for their compliance with human rights. 328. In 2016, the NCC conducted a national investigation into the treatment and oversight of children detained in correctional facilities in order to evaluate Australia’s potential compliance with OPCAT requirements.311 She found that while there has been considerable recent work undertaken to improve oversight and monitoring mechanisms for children who are detained, all jurisdictions have issues that will need to be addressed for OPCAT compliance. These include: functional independence; expertise of personnel; necessary resources for functioning; access to places of detention and children in detention; power to make recommendations; access to information; and annual and other public reporting. 329. The NCC also spoke to children in juvenile justice centres and an adult correctional facility about their perspectives on their treatment and living conditions. They highlighted their lack of awareness of rights and a reluctance to make complaints about their treatment.312The importance of robust oversight of juvenile justice centres for protecting the rights of detainees was made clear by the NT Royal Commission, which found that the Northern Territory lacked strong oversight and complaints processes for its juvenile justice centres.313 It recommended that the Northern Territory Government provide the Northern Territory Commission for Children and Young People with functions that are compatible with the functions of a National Preventative Mechanism under OPCAT. 314 330. In 2017, the Commission conducted consultations with civil society to facilitate the effective implementation of OPCAT in Australia. In its interim report, it noted the need to pay particular attention to the needs of children in all forms of detention.315 Recommendation 47: Australian Governments review existing systems of monitoring and inspection of juvenile justice facilities for compliance with OPCAT, and amend their legislative frameworks accordingly. (b) Use of isolation and force in juvenile detention 331. Despite legislation in most states and territories that prohibit the use of isolation and limit the use of force to certain circumstances, allegations of 57