Concerns raised over solitary confinement in Queensland youth detention after deaths of two First Nations boys

Government report says placing children in prison isolation can affect their health and wellbeing in ‘severe, long-term and irreversible ways’

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A Queensland government report has raised concerns over the use of solitary confinement in youth detention, detailing the case of two First Nations children with disabilities who died after spending extensive time in isolation at overcrowded and understaffed youth detention centres.

The Child Death Review Board’s annual report, tabled in state parliament on Thursday, details the anonymised cases of two boys, Harry* and Jack*. The report does not explicitly state their cause of death but Guardian Australia understands it to be suicide.

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