Preventing torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment of children in detention in Australia

Abstract

This article considers the multitude of inquiries and investigations into the treatment of children in youth detention in Australia over the past five years (2017–2022) as well as examples of practices that constitute torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment under international law (in particular, solitary confinement, use of restraints and force and strip searching). It explores how Australia might move beyond reacting to such treatment to preventing it because of the international and national monitoring and oversight mechanisms introduced by the Optional Protocol to the Convention Against Torture (OPCAT).