Caxton Legal Centre welcomes the State Government’s recent action to remove children from police watch houses.
Klaire Coles, Director of the Centre’s Coronial and Custodial Justice Practice, said “We consider the practice of children being kept for unacceptable periods of time, sometimes weeks, in watch houses to be unlawful. Children must be moved to more suitable facilities quickly rather than being left to languish.”
“We have been working with the Human Rights Law Centre and the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Service to address this issue with the State Government,” said Klaire.
Caxton’s CEO, Cybele Koning, said “Our Centre remains committed to tackling systemic injustices which see the most vulnerable amongst us denied basic human rights. In this instance we were extremely troubled by the length of stay in, and conditions for, children in watch houses.”
“There are legal issues we consider ourselves obliged to agitate in order to address this situation. We are hopeful that the practices adopted by the Government from here on in will obviate our further involvement.”
Read more about this from the Human Rights Law Centre.