A 13-year-old First Nations boy remanded for minor criminal offences was kept in total solitary confinement in a Queensland youth detention centre for at least 45 days, Guardian Australia has learned.
It is understood the boy also claimed that on one occasion he was denied drinking water at the Cleveland youth detention centre (CYDT) in Townsville, after he became distressed during a prolonged period in isolation and flooded the cell.
From 1 February, he spent 22 days straight entirely in solitary confinement. During almost two months in detention, the boy was allowed to leave his cell on five days.
The child’s treatment inside the Cleveland youth prison is the most extreme of several recent cases, where courts have raised human rights concerns about the extent of isolation and described conditions as “cruel” and “inappropriate”.
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Queensland’s parliament is this week debating new youth justice laws, including plans to override the Human Rights Act and criminalise bail breaches by children. Experts warn the plan will cause the population of young detainees to “explode” and heighten human rights concerns in a youth justice system already showing signs of buckling.
Youth detention centres are already at capacity and large numbers of children – at one point, more than 80 – are being warehoused in adult police watch houses. The Cleveland youth detention centre has also been subject to chronic staff shortages, resulting in prolonged “blackout” periods where children are not allowed to leave their cells.
Most children imprisoned in the Queensland youth justice system are on remand. Those numbers have increased significantly since the introduction of 2019 bail laws, which reversed the presumption in favour of bail in cases where there is an “unacceptable risk” to community safety.
In practice, that has meant dozens of children have been sent to prison – unsentenced – in cases where their alleged offending was not serious enough to warrant a period of imprisonment at sentence.
In the case of the 13-year-old boy, he was initially arrested in October 2022 in relation to a fight with another boy.
In January 2023, the boy was arrested for further offences, including property offences and attempted unauthorised use of a motor vehicle.
He was formally reprimanded in the children’s court last week, with his probation order extended by a month.
But despite not ultimately receiving a custodial sentence, the boy spent a total of 60 days imprisoned on remand, including six days in adult watch houses at Cairns and Mareeba, and 54 days at Cleveland.
During an initial 14-day period at Cleveland, from 27 October to 10 November, the boy was confined entirely to his cell.
From 30 January to 6 March, the boy was imprisoned at Cleveland and only allowed out of his cell on five days. He was in solitary confinement in his cell from 1 February to 23 February.
Information about his imprisonment at the detention centre does not include details about his final four days, from 7 to 10 March.
The court has not published a judgment in relation to the boy’s case. But in several recent cases, the courts have raised concerns about the treatment of children and warned that prison conditions would heighten the risk of reoffending.
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Judge Tracy Fantin published a judgment last month relating to another 13-year-old boy – who has developmental disorders – who spent extended periods in solitary confinement.
Fantin said the circumstances of the child’s imprisonment breached several principles of the state’s Youth Justice Act. The judge also drew clear links between the treatment of children in prison and the likelihood they would reoffend.
She said the boy’s period in detention “will have achieved little or nothing to protect the community from … future offending”.
“Indeed, it may well have increased the risk of further offending … and the state of Queensland must bear responsibility for that.
“If you treat a child like an animal, it is unsurprising that they may behave like an animal.”
The state’s youth justice minister, Leanne Linard, said “separations” – jargon for keeping children in solitary confinement – were used “as a last resort and are subject to strict controls”.
“At all times during a separation, young people have access to visits and professional support services, phone calls, education material, meal routines and recreational activities,” Linard said.
“The Department of Children, Youth Justice and Multicultural Affairs has been working to address staffing issues at CYDC.
“I met with the executive director of CYDC last week and was briefed on initiatives that have been implemented, including state and national recruitment campaigns and temporarily using staff from other centres to complement local staff and ensure young people’s engagement in programs. These initiatives are making a difference at the centre.”