Policy backflip in lead-up to Queensland election puts youth in detention centres at risk of coronavirus

Exclusive: Reforms designed to protect youth implemented after outcry at unfair treatment wound back as centres near capacity

The population of Queensland’s youth detention centres has ballooned to near capacity amid a government-sponsored crime crackdown, prompting concern from human rights activists that vulnerable children are being placed at risk during the coronavirus outbreak.

The state’s human rights commissioner, Scott McDougall, said without urgent attention, he thought it “inevitable” that children would again be “warehoused for prolonged periods” in police watch houses – a situation that provoked outcry about their treatment and prompted reforms of the youth justice system.

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from The Guardian https://ift.tt/2JFY7G3
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