Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has revealed that a royal commission into youth detention abuse, following the damning ABC Four Corners report, will be limited to the Northern Territory, warning that a broader inquiry could take too long.
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A teenage boy shown hooded and shackled in images from a juvenile detention centre that shocked Australia has apologised for his crimes as anger mounted over the scandal on Wednesday.
The CCTV footage from the Don Dale Youth Detention Centre in Darwin was shot between 2010 and 2014.
The chairs are among items recently included in a widened list of “approved restraints” under laws passed by the administration.
The Commission has been sparked by Monday night’s Four Corners program’s revelations of brutality against juveniles, featuring videos showing repeated mistreatment of a young offender.
The majority of youth in detention in the Northern Territory are indigenous, and the ABC cited indigenous groups as describing the treatment in Don Dale as “barbaric” and calling for the Northern Territory government to be dissolved.
The program also showed one boy being shackled to a “mechanical device” chair before being left alone for two hours and another being tackled, lifted and hurled across a room.
According to Australia Bureau of Statistics figures, as of June 2006 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians made up 30 per cent of the Northern Territory’s population. A coalition of Northern Territory Aboriginal organisations called for the national government to dissolve the territory government, which it has the authority to do.
The use of hoods, restraints and teargas on Australian aboriginal children in youth detention centres by police, as shown in footage released this week, could violate the United Nations treaty barring torture, a top United Nations official said on Thursday.
Acting Labor leader Tanya Plibersek said it was extraordinary Mr Turnbull has ruled out the inquiry looking into other states.
Voller, who was 13 years old at the time of the alleged abuse, issued a statement apologizing for his wrong doings and thanking ABC for “getting the truth out there”.
“There’s no cover-up, they’ve been fully aware of what’s been going on, the reports show it”, said Priscilla Collins, CEO of the North Australia Aboriginal Justice Agency. “The (Northern Territory) Government has failed to deal with systemic issues with the treatment of children in its youth detention system”.
“I sat and watched the footage and recognized horror through my eyes”, Giles told reporters in Darwin, adding that the Northern Territory Corrections Minister John Elferink has been removed from his position Tuesday.
The video is part of an extensive investigation by Four Corners that has helped brought use of excessive force in Australian juvenile detention centers, especially the ones in the Northern Territory, into focus.
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“That goes to the checks and balances that we need in every criminal justice system anywhere in Australia”, he said.
