serious threat of injury to the child or others, and only when all other means of
control have been exhausted.
Recommendation 49: Australian Governments:
•
identify and remove barriers for young offenders accessing diversionary
programs, in particular for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children
•
expand the availability and range of diversionary programs for young
offenders, including community-controlled and culturally-safe programs
•
review bail laws for their impact on the number of children on remand in
detention
•
abolish mandatory minimum sentencing laws that apply to children.
Recommendation 50: Australian Governments raise the age of criminal
responsibility from 10 years to at least 12 years, with preservation of doli
incapax.
Recommendation 51: The Australian Government establishes a national, holistic
and whole of government strategy to address Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander imprisonment rates.
Recommendation 52: Australian Governments commit to introducing national
justice targets as part of the Closing the Gap Strategy and trial justice reinvestment
initiatives.
Recommendation 53: Australian Governments ensure that laws that allow for
children to be detained following a finding of unfitness to stand trial, or a verdict
of not guilty by reason of mental impairment:
•
impose effective limits on the total period of detention
•
require regular reviews of the need for detention
•
require a plan to be put in place, including actions to be taken for the
child’s rehabilitation to facilitate their transition into progressively less
restrictive environments, and eventually out of detention.
Recommendation 54: The Australian Government ensures that whenever a
control order is imposed in relation to a person under 18 years of age, any
obligations, prohibitions and restrictions imposed constitute the least
interference with the child’s liberty, privacy or freedom of movement that is
necessary in all the circumstances.
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