9. The Commission has consistently advocated that Australia withdraw its reservation to article 37(c) of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) regarding the obligation to separate children from adults in prison. 10. In its 2018 report to the Committee, the Australian Government stated that it will not withdraw its reservation at this time. 11. The Australian Government has previously stated that its geography and demography make it difficult to always detain children in juvenile facilities, while also allowing children to maintain contact with their families.4 However, the CRC acknowledges that incarceration with adults is prohibited unless it is considered to be in the child’s best interests. 12. The NCC’s 2016 statutory report to the Australian Parliament identified that each state and territory has legislation that allows children to be detained in adult facilities under certain circumstances. However, most do not place those under 18 years in adult detention facilities, and on rare occasions where it does occur, safeguards exist. 13. Prior to 2016, Queensland automatically transferred 17 year olds to adult detention facilities. Changes to legislation in 2016 mean that 17 year olds are no longer automatically transferred to an adult facility. 14. In representations made to the NCC since 2013, there has been overwhelming support for not placing children under 18 in adult detention facilities.5 Recommendation 2: The Australian Government withdraws its reservation to article 37(c) of the CRC. 2.2 Legislation 15. The legal protections of children’s rights in Australia are not comprehensive and do not provide an effective remedy for violations. 16. A number of submissions to the NCC, including one from the Law Council of Australia, called for a comprehensive Children’s Rights Act at the national level.6 17. One of the functions of the NCC is to examine existing and proposed Commonwealth enactments to ensure that the human rights of Australia’s children are recognised and protected. With limited funding and resources, the NCC has mainly fulfilled this function through utilising the reports of the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights (PJCHR), established in 2011. 3