International
Australia youth justice: Inquiry finds ‘shocking’ failures
18 Nov, 2017
A major Australian inquiry has recommended the closure of a youth detention centre involved in an abuse scandal that shocked the nation.
Last year, a TV programme broadcast images of inmates being mistreated – including one teenage boy who was restrained and placed in spit hood.
It prompted a royal commission into Northern Territory (NT) youth justice.
The inquiry’s final report calls for sweeping changes to address the “shocking and systemic failures”.
Darwin’s Don Dale Youth Detention Centre should be closed immediately, said commissioners Margaret White and Mick Gooda in their?report tabled to parliament on Friday.
The commissioners found that inmates had been “subjected to regular, repeated and distressing mistreatment”, including the use of inappropriate force, restraint and verbal abuse.
“These things happened on our watch, in our country, to our children,” the commissioners said.
Lawmakers will now decide whether to accept the recommendations. (Courtesy BBC)
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