[Greens-Media] Wrist x-rays that led to children in adult prisons a thing of the past

[Schultz-Byard, Noah (Sen S. Hanson-Young)]

MEDIA RELEASE

Wednesday, 29 May 2013

Wrist x-rays that led to children in adult prisons a thing of the past

The Greens have welcomed an announcement that the government will no longer use the discredited practice of wrist x-rays to determine people's age, a method that saw Indonesian children locked up in adult prisons in Australia.

"Children are being tricked into crewing asylum seeker boats from Indonesia and, because of the x-ray method our government used, those children were being locked up in adult prisons," the Greens' immigration spokesperson said.

"The government has finally listened to the Greens and the legal community who have been calling for this change.

"It is unacceptable that this unreliable and dangerous practice of using wrist x-rays to gauge age landed vulnerable children in prisons with adults over and over again.

"It's also not good enough that many children have been sent back to Indonesia without a proper apology for the serious risks they were exposed to in adult prisons.

"We need an appropriate administrative mechanism, with judicial review, to help determine compensation claims and provide measures to help children recover from their time in Australia's adult justice system.

"This change has come too late for those who have already suffered at the hands of the Australian Government, but hopefully children in the future will be spared a similar fate."


Media Contact: Noah Schultz-Byard 0427 604 760


NOAH SCHULTZ-BYARD  MEDIA ADVISER

OFFICE OF SENATOR SARAH HANSON-YOUNG
AUSTRALIAN GREENS SENATOR FOR SOUTH AUSTRALIA
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