Victorian government releases Aboriginal children from adult prison

The Victorian government has backed down on its plan to transfer Aboriginal teenagers from a youth detention centre to a maximum-security prison.

The government had planned to transfer 40 children in youth custody to a segregated wing of Barwon prison while the Melbourne Youth Justice Centre at Parkville was being repaired.

But it backed down in the face of a Supreme Court challenge by the Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service and agreed to only transfer Aboriginal youths to the prison in exceptional circumstances and with the permission of the Commissioner of Aboriginal Children and Young People.

Lawyers are now planning to challenge the legality of detaining any children in adult prisons.

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