‘Left Alone’: A Review of Solitary Confinement and Similar Practices in Australia’s Youth Justice Systems

Overview

The Australian Human Rights Commission has reviewed the use of solitary confinement and similar practices in youth detention across Australia. Despite clear prohibitions under international law, these practices remain widespread and cause serious harm to children’s mental health, physical wellbeing and development. They disproportionately impact First Nations children and children with disability, undermine rehabilitation, and perpetuate cycles of trauma and disadvantage.

This report builds on findings from Royal Commissions, oversight bodies and recent inquiries, and calls for urgent reform to bring Australia into line with its international human rights obligations.

It makes 24 recommendations to prohibit solitary confinement, strengthen safeguards, and ensure youth justice systems adopt trauma-informed, rights-based approaches that prioritise safety, dignity and rehabilitation.

Background

Solitary confinement and similar practices - often referred to as ‘isolation’, ‘separation’, ‘segregation’ or ‘exclusion’ - are documented across youth detention centres and adult prisons holding children in Australia. These practices are frequently used for extended periods under conditions that fail to meet basic standards of care.

The Commission’s review highlights a troubling disconnect between law and practice and identifies systemic issues across all jurisdictions.

The report draws on:

• A review of legislation in all states and territories
• Survey responses from over 20 oversight, legal and human rights bodies
• International benchmarks and standards for the treatment of children in detention.

This report was written before the coronial findings were published into the death of Aboriginal teenager Cleveland Dodd. Coroner Phil Urquhart found Cleveland had spent 74 of his last 87 days in Western Australia’s Unit 18 in solitary confinement, which he described as ‘not only entirely inappropriate, but inhumane’. The Coroner made 19 recommendations, including the closure of Unit 18 as a matter of urgency. The Human Rights Commission has called for the immediate implementation of the Coroner’s recommendations and a nationwide legislative ban on solitary confinement for children.

Human Rights Impacts

The Commission’s report raises serious concerns over the use of solitary confinement and similar practices. It highlights that these practices fail to meet basic standards of care and are inconsistent with the purpose of youth justice, which is rehabilitation and not punishment.

The report brings together evidence from across Australia to show a continuing problem with practices that:

• Cause severe harm to children’s mental health, physical wellbeing and development.
• Increase risks of self-harm, suicide and long-term trauma.
• Disproportionately affect First Nations children and children with disability.
• Undermine rehabilitation, erode trust, and perpetuate cycles of disadvantage.
• Are often driven by staff shortages, inadequate training and punitive approaches.

International Human Rights Obligations

Solitary confinement is recognised internationally as an extreme practice that violates fundamental human rights when applied to children. Under international law, the use of solitary confinement on children - however described and regardless of the reason - constitutes a clear human rights violation.

Australia is bound by treaties including the ICCPR, UNCAT, CRC, CRPD, and OPCAT, all of which prohibit cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment and require humane conditions for children in detention.

UN bodies and the Special Rapporteur on Torture have repeatedly called for the abolition of solitary confinement for children in all circumstances.

Methodology

This report uses a mixed-method approach combining:

• Legislative analysis across all Australian jurisdictions, assessed against internation human rights standards
  
• Expert input from Dr Sharon Shalev, including a comparative review of laws and analysis of isolations practices
  
• A 2024 national stakeholder survey of oversight bodies, legal services and advocates on how isolation is used in practice
  
• Review of existing evidence, including inquiries, inspections and major reports.
  

Together these sources provide a national picture of law, practice and key gaps requiring reform.

Recommendations

The Commission’s 24 recommendations focus on legislative reform, oversight, and resourcing to eliminate solitary confinement and improve conditions for children in detention.

The recommendations address the following areas and call on States and Territories to take the following actions:

1. Prohibition and Definition

• Ban the practice of solitary confinement in youth detention centres (Recommendation 1)
• Define ‘solitary confinement’ in legislation in line with international human rights standards, and clearly define other isolation practices (Recommendations 5, 6)

2. Legislative Safeguards and Limits

• Specify maximum time limits and require isolation to be for the shortest possible duration and only as a last resort (Recommendations 7, 8, 11, 12, 14)
• Require medical advice for isolation decisions related to health, and prohibit isolation as punishment (Recommendations 13, 15)

3. Conditions and Standards 

• Establish minimum standards for conditions during isolation, including physical environment, necessities, social interaction, access to activities and support (Recommendation 16)

4. Oversight, Review and Accountability

• Require regular reviews of isolation decisions, prompt notification to parents and oversight bodies, and detailed record-keeping in a dedicated register (Recommendations 9, 10, 17, 18, 19, 20, 22, 23)
• Ensure medical oversight for all isolation practices, especially for children with health issues or trauma histories (Recommendation 21)

5. Resourcing and Staff Training

• Adequately resource detention facilities to prevent isolation driven by staffing shortages and provide staff with appropriate support (Recommendation 4)
• Provide regular training for staff on laws governing isolation (Recommendation 3)

6. Broader Standards and Temporary Holding

• Develop nationally consistent standards for child justice facilities and limit time in temporary holding facilities (Recommendations 2, 16, 24)

Recommended Reading

• ‘Help Way Earlier’: How Australia can transform child justice to improve safety and wellbeing'
• Not just an afterthought: The experience of women in immigration detention
• The Use of Hotels as Alternative Places of Detention
• Commission calls for urgent action to respond to Cleveland Dodd inquest findings