UN Experts Warn Australia Over Indigenous Overincarceration and Detention

In a statement concluding its official visit to Australia, the independent UN experts described the scale of overincarceration and detention practices as ongoing human rights crises that require urgent reform.

Australia’s criminal justice system includes important legal safeguards against arbitrary detention, but serious and systemic human rights concerns remain, particularly affecting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, children, and migrants, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention has warned.

In a statement concluding its official visit to Australia, the independent UN experts described the scale of overincarceration and detention practices as ongoing human rights crises that require urgent reform.

“The gross overrepresentation of First Nations peoples in the prison population, the shocking detention of children as young as 10, and the punitive approach to migrants are human rights crises that continue to plague Australia,” the Working Group said.

The experts called on Australian authorities at both federal and state levels to undertake comprehensive reforms aimed at reducing the imprisonment of First Nations peoples, raising the minimum age of criminal responsibility to at least 14 years, and ending the mandatory detention of people with irregular migration status.

Despite making up just 3.8 percent of Australia’s population, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples account for around 35 percent of the national prison population. The Working Group highlighted that Indigenous women are imprisoned at more than 20 times the rate of non-Indigenous women, while more than 30 Indigenous people have reportedly died in custody this year alone.

During their visit, the experts received consistent reports of over-policing and racial profiling, particularly in Indigenous communities, despite such practices being prohibited under Australian law.

“Addressing this crisis requires authorities to work in genuine partnership with First Nations communities to co-design solutions,” the Working Group said. “This includes early intervention before contact with the criminal justice system, culturally appropriate diversion programmes, and effective reintegration after detention — rather than reliance on punitive responses.”

One of the most pressing concerns identified by the experts was the growing number of people held in pre-trial detention. Currently, 42 percent of prisoners in Australia are unsentenced, many of whom are detained due to poverty, homelessness, discrimination, or lack of access to bail, rather than because they pose a genuine risk to public safety.

The Working Group expressed alarm that in several Australian jurisdictions the minimum age of criminal responsibility remains at 10 years old, a standard far below international norms.

“Keeping children as young as 10 in detention, including in adult prisons in some cases, is inhumane and incompatible with international human rights law,” the experts said. They called for a complete ban on the use of spit hoods, restraint chairs, and solitary confinement against children, practices that are prohibited under international standards.

The experts also expressed regret that they were denied access to detention facilities in the Northern Territory and youth detention centres in Western Australia, saying this restricted their ability to fully assess conditions and undermined transparency and accountability.

Australia’s migration detention regime was another major focus of concern. The Working Group criticised the country’s default reliance on detention for people with irregular visa status, stressing that irregular entry should never automatically result in detention.

“We were alarmed to learn that some migrants have been held in detention for more than 15 years,” the experts said. They also condemned the resumption of transfers of migrants to Nauru, noting that the practice has previously been found to violate international human rights obligations.

The Working Group further linked recent restrictive bail reforms to the sharp rise in unsentenced detainees. Chronic staff shortages across detention facilities were reported to be contributing to prolonged solitary confinement, limited access to fresh air, reduced rehabilitation programmes, and restricted legal consultations.

Despite these concerns, the experts acknowledged that Australia has robust procedural safeguards to prevent arbitrary detention, including widespread access to legal aid. They highlighted positive initiatives such as a 24/7 legal advice service for First Nations people, justice reinvestment programmes like Maranguka, and specialist Indigenous sentencing courts.

“These are important and positive measures,” the Working Group said. “However, urgent and decisive action is needed to end the overincarceration of Indigenous peoples, protect children from detention and mistreatment, and abolish mandatory migration detention.”

The Working Group will present a comprehensive final report on its findings and recommendations to the UN Human Rights Council in September 2026.