Police ‘cannot meet’ expectations for children in custody amid Cairns watch house overcrowding

Senior officer calls for help providing basic necessities to juvenile inmates, including food and toilet paper

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A senior police officer working at the Cairns watch house says officers “cannot meet” basic expectations to care for children in custody – including supplying regular food and toilet paper – amid severe overcrowding in the far north Queensland lockup.

The Queensland government last year suspended the state’s Human Rights Act to allow the indefinite detention of children in adult police holding cells. The government said it was necessary to address “immediate capacity issues” in the state’s youth detention system.

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