Just days after the 30th Anniversary of the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody, the Queensland Government has passed legislation that will drive more Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander kids into police and prison cells. Australia’s only First Nations-led national justice coalition Change the Record has slammed the legislation as short-sighted, discriminatory and ultimately dangerous. 

Change the Record Co-Chair Cheryl Axleby said: 

“The Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody recognised that separating First Nations children from their families had such “potentially disastrous repercussions for the future” that governments must do everything possible to reduce the rates that our kids are detained and imprisoned. Instead, thirty years on, the Queensland Government is introducing legislation that will deny our kids bail, slap tracking devices on their ankles and do nothing to improve the housing or access to community and family services that our kids actually need. 

“Once again, the Queensland Government scapegoating our kids to fix a political problem instead of implementing evidence-based policy that will help children and the whole community. 

“Our kids are already twenty seven times more likely to be thrown into police and prison cells in Queensland than their non-Indigenous peers. And while the Queensland Government has said it’s committed to Closing the Gap to reduce this horrifying disparity, actions speak louder than words, and these law changes will hit Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander kids the hardest. 

“If governments are genuinely committed to closing the gap and ending Black deaths in custody, then it starts with keeping our kids out of prison.”