At-risk Indigenous children need to be returned to country, youth justice advocates say
As 31 countries call on Australia to raise the age of criminal responsibility from 10 to 14 years old, a youth justice advocacy group says there needs to be more support services to prevent children ending up in the justice system.
Central Australian Youth Justice Network chairwoman Kirsten Wilson says when children are sent to prison, they end up on "the trajectory ... to go in and out of a youth detention centre and then in and out of prison throughout their lives".
Network member and Arrernte elder Pat Ansell Dodds says at-risk Indigenous children need to be returned to their country and learn their culture, rather than ending up in jail in Alice Springs.