Change the Record has released the Free to be Kids – National Plan of Action containing an 8-point plan for government to address the disproportionate representation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children imprisoned in Australia. The recommendations include supporting children, families and communities to strengthen and maintain cultural ties, raising the age of criminal responsibility to 14, not holding children in prison before sentencing has concluded, increasing funding for community-controlled legal and support services, improving data collection, and reforming laws that currently breach children’s human rights, such as mandatory minimum sentencing and holding children in adult prisons.
