Cost of keeping Queensland child in custody hits $2,000 a day, report finds

Brisbane youth detention centre. The Queensland government has announced the construction of two similar centres – one in Cairns and another in south-east Queensland. Photograph: Glenn Hunt/Getty Images

The cost of incarcerating a child in Queensland has risen to more than $2,000 a day, a figure described in a new report as “an incredible investment in a system that’s failing”.

The report by the Justice Reform Initiative – a coalition of judges, experts and former politicians – said the overreliance on incarceration in Queensland was harmful, expensive and failed to make the community safer.