Queensland unlawfully detained children in adult watch house without private toilet access, tribunal finds

State ordered to apologise after ruling finds it breached law when detaining teenagers in a Cairns watch house Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast The Queensland government broke the law and violated the human rights of three children by detaining them in an adult-only watch house without private toilet access or clean clothes, according to a tribunal judgment. The case was brought by three teenagers separately detained in the Cairns watch house between June 2021 and 2022. They were then aged between 13 and 17. The Queensland civil and administrative tribunal ruled on Monday that the conditions the trio were kept in breached their rights, including their right to be treated with humanity and respect, to privacy, to education and to protection. The Cairns watch house is designed to detain adults for “one to three days”, but not children, the tribunal found. The three children were detained in cells with no natural light, with one child describing their detention as “like being in a closed brick box”. They were required to use the toilet in front of other children and on CCTV camera within earshot of “screaming” adults, not provided clean clothes every day and