Queensland’s leading social service representatives are sickened and appalled by horrific vision of a handcuffed 14-year-old girl in a Queensland police watch house.
The Queensland Council of Social Service (QCOSS) and the Queensland Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Child Protection Peak (QATSICPP) have renewed calls for the immediate release of all children in adult watch houses after vision emerged of the child in the Cairns police cells.
‘Sam’ has been reported as having the mental capacity of a kindergarten child and the language skills of a toddler younger than three.
QATSICPP CEO Garth Morgan described the vision as horrifying.
“It is absolutely shocking to have witnessed this vision of ‘Sam’, a young girl with an intellectual disability being forcibly restrained by Queensland Police in an adult watch house,” Mr Morgan said.
“This was clearly about the adults in the situation not being able to regulate their own behaviour, and this is not becoming for an officer of the law in Queensland.
“The way the officer spoke to ‘Sam’ after slamming her hand in the door was the worst kind of gas-lighting and coercion.
“This incident gives rise to a much more serious concern about the capacity of the QPS to train their officers adequately. It is clear that police are not trained to work with children, particularly those who have impaired cognitive function”.
“Any parent would be horrified by this vision,” Mr Morgan said
The security and body worn vision seen by The Guardian Australia and SBS’ The Feed shows ‘Sam’ inside the Cairns lock-up back in 2023, hysterical, crying and pleading for help, begging not be placed in an adult cell.
QCOSS CEO Aimee McVeigh says the footage is more evidence of how damaging adult watch houses are for children and is a shocking reminder of the human rights crisis the Queensland Government has wilfully created.
“The child’s cries for help are heartbreaking,” Ms McVeigh said.
“You can hear the terror and pain in her voice.
“Queenslanders know children do not belong in adult watchhouses, and this harrowing vision proves it.”
Last year, the Queensland Government overrode its own Human Rights Act twice to introduce laws that more children as young as 10 are being incarcerated for longer.
Because of this, Queensland watch house numbers are at a five-year high.
Watch houses are designed to hold adults for one to two days. Children are being kept in them for weeks.
“Politicians must stop thinking about winning votes and political point scoring. We need politicians who act on evidence without abandoning their humanity,” Ms McVeigh said.
“The ongoing abuse and poor treatment of children in watch houses is likely to increase children’s offending behaviour and will ultimately make Queenslanders less safe.”
Ms McVeigh said any youth policy must be driven by evidence-based programs that deal with the root causes of offending, diverting children from crime, and getting them back to their families, community and learning environments.
“We need to take a longer-term view because we know the younger children are when they come in connection with the justice system, the more likely they are to go on to re-offend,” Ms McVeigh said.
“We urgently need programs that remove children younger than 14 from the justice system and we need to put a stop to the use of adult watch houses for the detention of children.”