Policing and detention
Media and commentary related to our work to provide critical oversight of NSW Police, prisons and youth detention centres, to protect human rights and ensure fair and lawful treatment.
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Australia fails to meet anti-torture deadline
Australia has failed to meet a crucial deadline for implementing its international anti-torture treaty obligations, despite receiving an extended timeframe for compliance to January 2023. Australia ratified the Optional Protocol to the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (OPCAT) in December 2017. But we are yet to take essential…
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UN urges Australia to improve treatment of people in detention
A report from the UN Committee Against Torture urges government action to improve Australia’s treatment of people in police custody, prisons, youth detention centres and immigration detention. The report follows a UN subcommittee visit to review places of detention in Australia, which was dramatically suspended in October when authorities in NSW and Queensland refused to…
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Legal Centres call for all COVID fines to be cancelled, existing fines regime to be reviewed
The NSW Government’s ‘law and order’ response to the pandemic created significant fines debt and damaged community-police relations in some of the most disadvantaged parts of the state, according to a new UNSW Law School report. Click here: UNSW Report The Aboriginal Legal Service (NSW/ACT), Redfern Legal Centre and the Public Interest Advocacy Centre…
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Segregations exceeding 24 hours at Juvenile Justice centres on the rise.
New data shows segregations exceeding 24 hours in New South Wales juvenile justice centres have increased over the past year, despite ongoing pressure on authorities to limit the practice. According to the latest NSW Ombudsman’s annual report, the office received 147 segregation notifications in the 12-month reporting period; a rise of 46 per cent compared…
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2SER interview: Why UN torture inspectors suspended their Australian visit
A UN Subcommittee responsible for the prevention of torture and cruel and degrading treatment recently visited Australia to carry out inspections of places of detention, which include prisons, youth detention centres and immigration detention. Shockingly, the Subcommittee ended its visit early, saying there was lack of cooperation from Australian authorities. The delegation released a statement, saying…
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Joint statement of concern regarding suspension of UN Subcommittee on Torture visit to Australia following lack of co-operation in New South Wales and Queensland
We express profound concern that the United Nations Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture (SPT) has been forced to take the drastic measure of suspending its visit to Australia due to obstruction encountered while attempting to carrying out its mandate during its visit to Australia under the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and other…
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Statement of concern: NSW not facilitating prison inspections by UN Committee
A statement of concern from the Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC), Community Legal Centres NSW, Human Rights Law Centre (HRLC), Amnesty International Australia, Aboriginal Legal Service (NSW/ACT), First People’s Disability Network Australia (FPDNA) and Change the Record We are concerned about reports that the NSW Government is refusing to allow the visiting United Nations Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture…
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Supreme Court challenge to use of solitary confinement in NSW youth justice centres filed
The Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC) has filed a test case in the Supreme Court challenging the use of “segregation” (solitary confinement) as a form of punishment in youth justice centres in NSW. PIAC has filed a case on behalf of their client, Daniel, whose identity is being protected by a pseudonym.
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‘A huge toll on my mental health’: challenge to the use of segregation as punishment in youth justice centres
The Public Interest Advocacy Centre has filed a test case in the Supreme Court challenging the use of “segregation” as a form of punishment in youth justice centres in New South Wales on behalf of their client Daniel*. In 2016, while Daniel was held on remand at Cobham Youth Justice Centre, he was placed on…
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‘It broke my mind’: Former youth detainee sues after being held in solitary confinement
When Daniel* was taken into custody for the first time at the age of 17, he had never experienced any mental health issues. He was on remand for more than a year as he waited to face trial, and by the time a jury found him not guilty he was “different in the head”.