The United Nations Human Rights Council’s periodic review of Australia’s human rights record—conducted every five years—has prompted severe criticism of the nation’s ongoing failure to safeguard fundamental rights and due process in the criminal justice system. Key concerns raised in the review include:
- Forty countries urged Australia to raise the age of criminal responsibility, which remains 10 years old in most states and territories. The Australian Human Rights Commission President, Hugh de Kretser, stated:
“In most Australian jurisdictions, children as young as 10 can be arrested, prosecuted, and jailed. This is inhumane and remains out of step with international human rights standards. First Peoples are hit hardest by these unjust laws. The international community is calling us out on this.”
- Fifty-five countries raised concerns about Indigenous rights and treatment in the criminal justice system, a recurring theme throughout the review. Last year, Australia recorded the highest number of Indigenous deaths in custody in four decades, surpassing 600 deaths since the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody.
- Australia’s ongoing incarceration of people who have not yet been convicted of a criminal offence was also the subject of grave concern, with as many as 42% of the incarcerated population falling into this category.
Among the proposed remedial measures, the reinstatement of social media accounts for minors who have been tried and convicted as adults received overwhelming support from member states. Under current Australian law, individuals under the age of 16 are prohibited from operating social media accounts.
In responding to the U.N. recommendations, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese unequivocally rejected the proposal to reintegrate criminally convicted minors into Australia’s social media ecosystem.
“Our government has already had a difficult time rushing through Parliament extraordinary legislation that effectively silences Australia’s ‘foul-mouthed brats.’ Allowing these young people back onto social media after they have been mistreated by the system, have learned its flaws intimately, and have confronting stories to share is unlikely to bode well for us. Hopefully, by the time they reach adulthood, our prison system will have instilled enough despondency and jaded cynicism to convince them of public apathy and the futility of raising their voices,” Mr Albanese stated in support of his decision.
