Widespread locking of children in solitary lambasted by Australian children’s commissioner

Children’s commissioner Anne Hollonds: ‘I call on all Australian states and territories to ban solitary confinement as a means of discipline or control for children in detention.’ Photograph: Carly Earl/The Guardian

A shortage of prison guards is no reason to allow solitary confinement of children in detention, according to the national children’s commissioner, who has called on all Australian governments to ban the practice as a mean of discipline or control.

Guardian Australia this week reported on the Queensland case of an Aboriginal teenager with an intellectual disability who likely spent 500 days confined to his room for more than 20 hours a day – a case human rights campaigners have described as the most egregious on record.