Former Youth Detainees Reveal Widespread Sexual Abuse and Strip-Searches in Australian Jails
Former detainees and experts say Australian youth detention centres have a pattern of invasive strip-searches, isolation and sexual assault, especially against Indigenous children.
Across Australia, former youth detainees are reporting a consistent pattern of abuse that includes invasive strip-searches, solitary confinement and sexual assault by custodial staff and older inmates. Psychiatrist Sivasankaran Balaratnasingam, a former chair of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander mental health committee, has interviewed up to 200 survivors, noting that most incidents occur at night and are perpetrated by guards.
Recent investigations in Tasmania, South Australia and the Northern Territory have confirmed widespread sexual misconduct in state facilities. Legal actions, including class actions in Western Australia and Victoria and a 2025 lawsuit against Melbourne’s Parkville youth justice centre, allege abuse spanning five decades. The victims are disproportionately Indigenous, mirroring the high incarceration rates for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children. Survivors say the adversarial court process adds further trauma, discouraging many from seeking justice.
Why it matters
The story exposes systemic abuse in youth detention, highlighting failures that affect vulnerable Indigenous children and the justice system.
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