Australian Human Rights Commission Report title October 2022 dedicated and culturally safe supports and services provided to First Nations people with disability as a means of avoiding entry into the criminal justice system. 95. The Commission continues to be concerned by the lack of government action in repealing legislation and withdrawing policies and practices that can lead to the indefinite detention of unconvicted people, including children, with disability.120 Little progress has been made in addressing the indefinite detention of people with disability who are assessed as unfit to stand trial or not guilty by reason of mental impairment. Indefinite detention was raised as a serious concern in the Concluding Observations of the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disability review of Australia in 2019.121 96. For example, in Western Australia a person can be indefinitely detained in a custodial setting without trial if found unfit to stand trial.122 There are no special procedures for children.123 Children with FASD are at particular risk of being held in indefinite detention.124 There is a lack of data provided by governments in relation to this cohort, so it is not clear how many people are indefinitely detained on these types of orders in each jurisdiction. 97. A person who is found to be unfit to plead can spend a longer time in detention than if they pleaded guilty and were sentenced to imprisonment for the offence.125 The Commission has previously reported on several cases where First Nations people have been detained for a period longer than the maximum sentence if they had been found guilty. 126 98. Although the Commission welcomed the 2019 endorsement of the National Statement of Principles Relating to Persons Unfit to Plead or Found Not Guilty By Reason of Cognitive or Mental Health Impairment by Australian states, with the exception of South Australia, the National Principles are not implemented in state and territory legislation, policies and procedures. This falls short of expected actions. 99. The Commission has previously called127 on the Australian Government to implement the recommendations of the 2013 Inquiry into indefinite detention of people with cognitive and psychiatric impairment in Australia.128 Recommendation 22: Governments implement the recommendations in the Concluding Observations of the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in 2019 concerning the criminal justice system, including but not limited to: 23