Despite years of inquiries, royal commissions and promises of reform, Australia is spending more than $1.1 billion annually to maintain a youth justice system that data confirms is failing its most vulnerable subjects.
According to the Productivity Commission’s Report on Government Services 2026, the cost of imprisoning a single child now exceeds $1.3 million per year. Yet this escalating investment is not delivering safety or rehabilitation. Instead, it is funding a system where First Nations children are incarcerated at increasing rates, self-harm is prevalent, and serious assaults are rising.
The data exposes that rather than preventing harm, Australian governments are presiding over a deterioration in outcomes for Indigenous youth.
A System of Disproportionate Harm
On any average day in Australia, 734 children are imprisoned. Sixty-two per cent of them are First Nations. In the Northern Territory, the disparity is even more extreme, with First Nations children making up 95 per cent of the youth detention population.
The crisis extends to the youngest members of society. In 2024-25, more than 500 children aged between ten and thirteen were held in detention, the vast majority being Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander.
This reliance on incarceration is having severe physical and psychological consequences. First Nations children now account for the overwhelming majority of hospitalisations for self-harm and attempted suicide within youth detention facilities. Furthermore, the environment inside these centres is becoming increasingly dangerous, with reports of serious assaults on children rising sharply over the past year.
The Failure of Punitive Policy
Critics argue that the data reflects a systemic refusal by governments to pivot from punitive measures to evidence-based, community-led solutions.
In the Northern Territory, the Children’s Commissioner has warned that youth detention is becoming “entrenched” in ways that conflict with the basic rights of children, weakening their connection to family, culture, and rehabilitation. Despite this, the NT Corrections Department rejected all recommendations for reform from the Commissioner’s report.
William Tilmouth, Founding Chair of Children’s Ground and recipient of the 2025 Human Rights Award, says the current approach is a breach of international standards.
“Our children are being locked up, harmed and separated from their families as governments spend more money every year to keep a failing system alive,” Tilmouth said. “Punitive systems are not protecting children and they are not making communities safer.”
Ignoring the Solutions
The overrepresentation extends beyond the justice system. Nationally, almost half of all children in out-of-home care are First Nations; in the Northern Territory, that figure sits at nearly 90 per cent.
Advocates argue that real change requires a fundamental shift in power and investment toward First Nations communities, who hold the solutions but are frequently sidelined by political pressure to appear “tough on crime.”
“Australia is breaching the basic rights of children by criminalising them at age ten and ignoring international standards,” Tilmouth said. “Leaders across the political spectrum cannot say they care about First Nations children while continuing policies that cause this level of harm.”
He emphasised that the path forward exists, but it requires governments to stop ignoring Indigenous voices.
“First Nations communities are wanting to lead change. We have the evidence, we have the solutions, but our voices are being ignored. When will our people be heard? Prevention works. Community leadership works. Governments must change how they work and who they listen to,” Tilmouth said.
“Our children deserve systems that protect them, strengthen them and give them hope for a better future.”
Related story: Jenna Roberts on intersecting family violence and child protection
Ritchelle is Content Team Manager at Akolade, producing stories for Australia's not-for-profit sector at Third Sector.
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