Youth Justice and Incarceration Inquiry
4 February 2026
On 23 December 2025, the Law Council provided a submission to the inquiry of the Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs References Committee into Australia’s youth justice and incarceration system. This is a continuation of an inquiry which was interrupted when the 47th Parliament was prorogued in March 2025.
Building on our submission to the previous iteration of the inquiry (available here), the submission provides an update on youth justice developments across the country, including recent ‘adult crime, adult time’ and bail restriction measures implemented by states and territories, and the very worrying trends in detention and imprisonment that are resulting from such measures.
The submission also addresses more protective and preventive alternatives to detention, which have proven successful in various jurisdictions both in Australia and overseas. The submission encourages national leadership by the Australian Government in this area and makes nine recommendations to this end. In addition, it highlights the importance of listening to young people, whose voices are an essential factor to understand the effect of various youth justice interventions and how the child justice system should be improved.
The Law Council thanks the New South Wales Bar Association; Law Society of New South Wales; Law Society of South Australia; Queensland Law Society; Victorian Bar; Law Institute of Victoria; Law Society Northern Territory; Law Society of Western Australia; Law Society of Tasmania, and its National Human Rights Committee for their contributions to this submission.
Last Updated on 04/02/2026
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