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Following a rise in complaints and allegations of human rights abuses, police have decided to launch an investigation into the controversial security posts in Queensland.
But Katherine Hayes, director of the Youth Advocacy Centre, a legal advice centre for young people, says vulnerable children do not belong there in the first place.
“If you have a guard post that is full of adults who are often drunk or on drugs, and then you also have a number of young people who are under the influence, it is very difficult for the guard post staff to deal with that,” she said.
Katherine Hayes is an attorney who advocates for the rights of children in care homes. Source: SBS
Watch houses are police cells where people are held after arrest. They are designed for adults, including violent and dangerous offenders — but with overcrowded juvenile detention centers, children as young as 11 are also held there.
The Queensland Police Service (QPS) last week launched an investigation into the state’s 63 police stations and has acknowledged there are “systemic problems”.
Hayes said the investigation was prompted by a “significant increase in complaints” over the past 12 months.
A joint investigation by The Feed and Guardian Australia has revealed exclusive footage of a 13-year-old disabled Indigenous girl being placed in isolation at a Cairns reception centre.
When she tried to escape from the cell, her hand got caught in the door.
Another incident involved an asthmatic boy who said he had difficulty breathing in an isolation cell. He was taken there after other boys set fire to a blanket in the guardhouse.
An officer is heard saying, “If you can talk, it sounds like you’re breathing fine.”
Hayes said: “I think the media coverage has helped create political pressure and bring these issues to light.”
Queensland Police Commissioner Steve Gollschewski said 42 complaints have been made so far this year with more than 100 allegations.
“In some cases our people are wrong,” he acknowledged.
Queensland’s care home system is under “significant pressure”, according to Queensland Police Chief Steve Gollschewski. Source: MONKEY / Jono Searle
Children remain held in waiting rooms
While the investigation is ongoing, one thing remains on the table: an end to the practice of holding children in the waiting room.
Deputy Commissioner Cameron Harsley, who is leading the investigation, said: “I would prefer not to have children in a supervisory role but unfortunately we are not in a position to do that.”
According to Hayes, government policy must change before that happens.
“There shouldn’t be any children in the guardhouse, but that’s beyond the control of the police,” she said.
Last year was the to keep children in waiting rooms.
“Queensland needs alternatives to the waiting houses for young people with serious mental health problems. We see many young people being placed in isolation or the waiting house because there is no alternative,” Hayes said.
The Feed and Guardian Australia investigation shows for the first time what happens to children locked in isolation cells in guard houses. Source: Delivered
Tim Spall is a Gija man who has worked in mental health for First Nations youth for more than 20 years. He said many children enter the system due to mental health issues and disconnection from education.
He said that if children are locked up without proper support, they are likely to continue with criminal behavior.
“That kid goes in there, nobody honors him, they just… throw him back into the community,” Spall said.
“That young man is going back to exactly what he knows, because there is nothing else.”
According to Hayes, when children are locked up, there is already government failure on multiple levels.
“The courts are under-resourced, which means that there are many children in pre-trial detention in detention centres, leading to a surplus of detention centres,” she said.
“Many of these children are child safety [child protection services] “Children, so I feel like Child Safety didn’t protect them in the first place.”
Queensland Youth Justice Minister Di Farmer said young people should be detained if they pose a danger to the community.
Di Farmer is Queensland’s Minister for Youth Justice and a former Minister for Child Safety. Source: MONKEY / Jono Searle
“I make no apologies for young people being in waiting rooms… we obviously don’t want them in those waiting rooms for any length of time,” Farmer told The Feed and Guardian Australia.
“If there is abuse or neglect, there is a system in place to report and address those issues.”
What is the watch house review about?
Police estimate that adults and children will spend a total of 3.8 million hours in custody in Queensland this year, a 7 percent increase on last year.
They are only meant to be held in guard houses for a short period of time, but some children remain locked up for weeks.
“[Watch houses] are a challenging environment. What we want to do is make sure that we minimize the time that people spend in there,” Gollschewski said.
The cells in the guardhouse where children are held are often small, with basic facilities such as an open toilet and sleeping mats. Source: Delivered / Queensland Police Union
Gollschewski said the investigation would look at a range of areas.
“That includes all of the facilities, how we staff them, how we train our personnel and how those guard posts are operated, and in particular the treatment of the detainees,” he said.
According to Harsley, immediate measures were also taken.
All officers working in guardhouses are now required to wear body cameras. The number of people in custody is updated daily on the QPS website.
Police bodycam footage shows an officer holding a 13-year-old girl by the neck. Source: Delivered
Hayes hopes the investigation will bring about real change for the 75,000 alleged offenders who enter the state’s detention system each year.
“I am optimistic that they will go into the evaluation with the right approach and that they will try to really improve the conditions in the waiting rooms,” she said.
‘Tokenistic measures’: More support needed for children and First Nations people
Despite this optimism, Hayes said the guard’s staff needs specific training on how to interact with children.
“Many of the stories we hear about the treatment of young people are about incidents that could have been prevented with training in de-escalation or in how to properly treat children in care, such as giving them adequate access to contact with their family members, appropriate food and blankets,” the organization said.
Tim Spall believes children are often ‘written off’ once they enter the youth justice system, particularly First Nations people, who make up the majority of young people in custody in Queensland.
“There are little to no support networks for them, beyond symbolic measures,” he said.
Spall wants to see more mental health workers at the monitoring centre and have them trained in First Nations cultural norms, such as segregating men and women’s businesses.
“A man can ask a man these kinds of questions in a delicate way, but he should never ask a woman, and a woman should never ask a man. That’s a big taboo in our culture,” he said.
“[Young people] need appropriate support, taking into account who they are, where they fit, what is happening around them and what is happening in the community.”
Tim Spall is a youth mental health advocate who says mental health services for young people in juvenile detention are currently inadequate. Source: SBS
Spall said the need for support continues even after the children are released from the care center.
“I’ve seen some terrible discharge plans… kids who haven’t been to school for two years and have had huge conflicts with their grandparents,” he said.
“And the discharge plan will be, ‘Monday morning I’m going back to live with Grandma and back to school.'”
The police recognise that the circumstances in which people are held are becoming increasingly complex, for example people with physical and mental health problems or people who use drugs.
“We really need to look at a system that is better able to deal with these more complex problems,” Harsley said.
Readers seeking crisis support can contact Lifeline on 13 11 14, the Suicide Call Back Service on 1300 659 467 and Kids Helpline on 1800 55 1800 (for young people under 25). Further information and support relating to mental health is available at
If you or someone you know is experiencing, or is at risk of experiencing, domestic, family or sexual violence, call 1800RESPECT on 1800 737 732 or visit
If you or someone you know is worried or feeling unwell, we encourage you to call 13YARN on 13 92 76 and speak to an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander Crisis Supporter.
You can contact Aboriginal Counselling Services on 0410 539 905.
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