Cairns and Murgon watch‑houses inspection report: Focus on detention of children

Watch-houses, which are operated by the Queensland Police Service, are intended to be used for the short-term detention of a person prior to them being granted bail or being transferred to a youth detention centre or prison. However, watch-houses in Queensland are now used to detain children for lengthy periods of time.

The Cairns and Murgon watch-houses are two facilities in which children have spent many weeks.

The majority of children detained in watch-houses, including at Cairns and Murgon, are Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander peoples. Children who are placed in watch-houses are often already vulnerable, and many have significant health complexities and traumatic backgrounds.

In our inspections of these two watch-houses, we focused on the fundamental issues of keeping children safe and unharmed, and treating them humanely.

We are concerned that:

• The infrastructure of both watch-houses is not suitable for detaining children, especially for longer periods of time. For example:
  • the Cairns watch-house was overcrowded at the time of the inspection and has no natural light in its cells or common areas
  • the Murgon watch-house has no access to fresh air
  • in both watch-houses there is a lack of privacy regarding access to toilets.
• The admission process at both watch-houses is inadequate. Of particular concern is that health clinicians are not generally involved in the assessment process and the process is not specifically designed for children, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children.
• The approach for managing at-risk children in watch-houses is inadequate compared with the options available in youth detention centres.
• Some children are being held in isolation from others, due to either being the only child in the watch-house or because they need to be removed from other children. This can cause significant harm to them.
• There is limited guidance for watch-house staff on behavioural management strategies for children, and staff are not provided with specialist training geared towards working with children, let alone those with complex needs.
• There are no organised activities for children.
• In the case of the Murgon watch-house, important service providers (such as youth justice, health and mental health professionals) do not have regular, consistent and coordinated access to detained children. This means the children are not being regularly visited by services that can check on their welfare, and if necessary, escalate concerns.

Based on the information in this report, the detention of children in watch-houses creates risk of harm and it should be avoided. If detained in a watch-house, children should be held for the minimum time possible and transferred to a more suitable facility as soon as possible.

We have made recommendations to address the concerns we identified during the inspection.

Cairns watch-house 

• Catchment: This watch-house is in the catchment for Cleveland Youth Detention Centre (345 km away; approx. 4-hour drive) 
• Location: On Gimuy country in Cairns City in Far North Queensland
• On 5 January 2024:
  • 11 children were being held – 9 boys, 2 girls
  • 10 were Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander children

Murgon watch-house 

• Catchment: This watch-house is in the catchment for Brisbane Youth Detention Centre and West Moreton Youth Detention Centre (242 km away; approx. 3-hour drive) 
• Location: On Wakka Wakka country in Murgon, in the South Burnett region
• On 20 November 2023:
  • 3 children were being held – 2 boys, 1 girl
  • All were Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander children

Focus of this report

Police watch-houses are designed to detain people for short periods of a day or more. However, in Queensland they are being used to detain children for longer periods. This report considers critical aspects of watch-house detention that are relevant to ensuring that children are safe and free from harm while detained there.

The Queensland Police Service operates 63 watch-houses of varying sizes across Queensland. They have advised us that they are not designed or resourced to hold people in custody beyond 72 hours. While they are predominantly used to detain adults, they are also used to detain children.
While in a police watch-house, children are in the custody of the Queensland Police Service, which has the primary responsibility for meeting their needs. However, the Department of Youth Justice also provides a range of supports and services.

Children are held in watch-houses as part of the processing following arrest by police. If the police do not grant bail, a child will remain in the watch-house until they appear in court. If they are also refused bail by the court, they will then remain in the watch-house until they are admitted to a youth detention centre.

In line with the usual pathway through the criminal justice system, children would normally be moved out of the watch-house to a youth detention centre quickly. However, Queensland has the highest average daily rate of children in detention in the country (Australian Government Productivity Commission’s Report on Government Services 2024 (ROGS)), leading to its youth detention centres often being full. In 2022–23, the centres had a utilisation rate of 98%, which is the highest in Australia, where the average rate is 56% (ROGS). As a result, there are often no spaces to accommodate children in youth detention centres, causing them to be held for days in a watch-house until a space becomes available.

According to the Department of Youth Justice, in early January 2023, the number of children detained in watch-houses peaked at 104 per day and remained above 80 per day throughout that month. From January to April 2024, numbers have consistently averaged between 42 and 75 children held in watch-houses awaiting admission to a youth detention centre, peaking at 102 on 13 February 2024 (ROGS). On 9 September 2024, the Queensland Police Service website reported that there were 38 children in custody across Queensland.

The Queensland Family and Child Commission’s Report in December 2023 – Who’s responsible: Understanding why young people are being held for longer in Queensland watch houses – identified that there is a risk of harm to children who are detained in watch-houses, particularly for long periods. In accordance with the objective of the Inspector of Detention Services Act 2022 (the Act) to prevent detainees from being subject to harm, we considered it important to conduct inspections and report to parliament about this issue.

In this report, we do not critique every aspect of the management and treatment of children in these watch-houses. Instead, we focus on what we consider to be the basic and critical aspects relevant to ensuring that children are detained safely and humanely and are free from harm.

Relevant reports

Concerns about children being detained in Queensland watch-houses have been raised over many years, including by the Queensland Human Rights Commission and the Office of the Public Guardian.

In addition, the Queensland Family and Child Commission’s report in December 2023 – Who’s responsible: Understanding why young people are being held for longer in Queensland watch houses – stated:

Watch houses are not appropriate places to hold children, potentially exposing them to violent and anti-social adult behaviour, which is harmful, re-traumatising and does not reduce the likelihood of reoffending.

In that report, the Queensland Family and Child Commission also says watch-houses are an inadequate place to keep children overnight.

The 2015 United Nations’ Report of the Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment recommended to all countries that children not be detained in law enforcement establishments for more than 24 hours, and only in child-friendly environments.

In June 2024, The inquest into the deaths of Shiralee Deanne Tilberoo and Vlasta Wylucki was delivered. Ms Tilberoo died at the Brisbane City watch-house in 2020 and Ms Wylucki died at the Southport watch-house in 2018. Issues considered by the Deputy State Coroner include: 

• the adequacy of checks conducted by watch-house staff

• the adequacy of the provision of clinical treatment in the watch-house

• the appropriateness of current Queensland Police Service policies and procedures relating to the supervision of prisoners in watch-houses

• the appropriateness of cultural communication and liaison with Ms Tilberoo’s next of kin.

Although the detainees were not children, we observed similarities between the issues and recommendations made in the Deputy Coroner’s report and our report and will address these in the relevant sections below.

Reasons for selecting these two watch-houses

Queensland has many watch-houses of various sizes across the state. We inspected the Cairns and Murgon watch-houses because both have been used to detain children for long periods (including over a month in some cases) and they represent different types of watch-houses. The two vary in several key aspects, including:

• Size: Cairns is a large facility with capacity to hold 42 detainees; 
  Murgon is small and only able to hold nine detainees.

• Location: Cairns is situated in a large regional metropolitan area; 
  Murgon is in a more isolated rural setting.
• Design: Cairns is of an older design; Murgon is a more modern facility.

By selecting different types of watch-houses, we hoped to gain a broader understanding of the issues and challenges in detaining children.

Despite the differences, we found many similarities between the two watch-houses, and we discuss these throughout this report.

Role of Inspector of Detention Services

The Inspector of Detention Services was established under the Inspector of Detention Services Act 2022 (the Act) to provide independent oversight of detention services and places of detention in Queensland.

The purpose of the Act is to promote the improvement of detention services and places of detention, with a focus on humane treatment of detainees and on preventing them from being subjected to harm.

Key functions of the Act involve inspecting detention services and places of detention (once every year for youth detention centres, once every five years for adult prisons and the Southport and Brisbane watch-houses, although any watch-house can be inspected), and then reporting to the Legislative Assembly with advice and recommendations.

Inspection process

We conducted the inspections of the Cairns and Murgon watch-houses under section 8(1) (b) of the Act, which empowers the Inspector to ‘inspect a place of detention at any time’.

We conducted these inspections to enable us to review the watch-houses against the main purpose of the Act (Part 1, section 3), which is to promote the improvement of detention services and places of detention, with a focus on:

1. promoting and upholding the humane treatment of detainees, including humane conditions of their detention; and

2. preventing detainees from being subjected to harm, including torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment.

We conducted our onsite inspection of the Murgon watch-house on 20 and 21 November 2023, and of the Cairns watch-house from 3 to 5 January 2024. We also reviewed and analysed information from:

• the Queensland Police Service, including relevant provisions in the Queensland Police Service’s Operational Procedures Manual (OPM)
• Queensland Government departments responsible for providing services at the watch-houses, including the Department of Youth Justice, the Department of Education, the Darling Downs Hospital and Health Service (Murgon watch-house) and the Cairns and Hinterland Hospital and Health Service (Cairns watch-house)
• other government agencies, including those with oversight of youth detention centres
• local community organisations.

We also observed the practices of watch-house staff and listened to the views of children detained at the watch-houses.

Relevant standards

We are currently developing inspection standards for watch-houses. However, for these inspections, we benchmarked various aspects of the watch-house operations and treatment of children against relevant:

• international standards
• youth detention centre operational policies and legislation (Department of Youth Justice)
• prison custodial operations practice directives and legislation (Queensland Corrective Services).

We acknowledge that some of these may not be directly applicable to a watch-house. However, they provide good reference points for what is expected or what would be applicable to children if they were transferred to a youth detention centre instead of having to stay in a watch-house.

We also considered it useful to compare the management of children in watch-houses with the management of adults in prison.

Acknowledgements

We wish to acknowledge the support and assistance we received throughout the inspections from the Queensland Police Service and its staff at both watch-houses. They were generous with their time and allowed us unlimited access to the facilities, despite the demands of their work.

We would also like to acknowledge the assistance of staff from the Department of Youth Justice and other government and non-government stakeholders. We especially want to acknowledge the help provided to us by the Office of the Public Guardian, who provided valuable information in the lead-up to and during the inspections.

Finally, we thank the children who spoke with us and shared valuable information about their experiences in the watch-houses.

Submissions

As is required by section 24 of the Act, on 10 and 19 July 2024, we provided a consultation draft of this report to a number of entities to allow them to make submissions. The entities that provided submissions and the dates of those submissions are detailed in the table below.

We carefully considered each of the submissions prior to finalising this report. Where we considered it relevant, some parts of this report have been amended to reflect the information provided. The submissions of each entity have been included in full at the end of this report. The recommendations and numbering referred to in the submissions may no longer align with the current recommendations due to the process of review undertaken after submissions were received.

Cairns watch-house

During a 13-month period from 1 January 2023 to 31 January 2024, there was a total of 381 admissions of children to the Cairns watch-house. (This refers to the total number of individual admissions. Some children may have been admitted on multiple occasions over that period.)
Of the 381 admissions, 38 were for periods of less than 24 hours. Graph 1 details the number of days the remaining children spent in the watch-house for each admission.

Graph 1: Length of time children spent in the Cairns watch-house – 1 January 2023 to 31 January 2024

Source: Office of the Queensland Ombudsman using information provided by the Queensland Police Service.

The youngest child admitted for a period of more than 24 hours was a 10-year-old boy (with four admissions in the period). The youngest girls admitted for periods of more than 24 hours were 12 years of age, with one admission being for 11 days.

Figure 1: Length of time children spent in the Cairns watch-house by age – 1 January 2023 to 31 January 2024

Source: Office of the Queensland Ombudsman using information provided by the Queensland Police Service.

Of the 90 admissions of girls, all but three were Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander children. Of the boys, 272 out of 292 admissions were Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander children.

Murgon watch-house

During an eight-month period from January to October 2023, there was a total of 93 admissions of children to the Murgon watch-house. (Again, this refers to the total number of individual admissions, with some children being admitted on multiple occasions over that period.)

Of these, 61 were for periods of less than 24 hours. Graph 2 details the number of days the remaining 32 children spent in the watch-house for each admission.

Graph 2: Length of time children spent in the Murgon watch-house – 1 January to 31 October 2023

Source: Office of the Queensland Ombudsman using information provided by the Queensland Police Service.

The longest stays in the watch-house were 29 days. These were two boys (aged 14 and 16).

As shown in Figure 2, the youngest children admitted for a period of more than 24 hours were two boys aged 11 years (who spent 34 and 45 hours in the watch-house respectively). Only one girl (aged 17 years) was admitted for a period of more than 24 hours (37 hours). Of the 32 admissions, all but one were Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander children.

Figure 2: Length of time children spent in the Murgon watch-house by age – 1 January to 31 October 2023

Children detained in custody must be held in infrastructure that is suitable for children. This is central to their safety and humane containment.

If a child were accommodated at a youth detention centre, then generally they would have:

• their own cell (with privacy from other children offered when they shower and use the toilet)
• a common area where they can interact with other children during the day
• an adjoining outdoor exercise yard that is also accessible during the day.

It would also be expected that they would have access to other outdoor areas, including an oval, to exercise and play sport.

Layout

Cairns watch-house

The Cairns watch-house was built in 1992. It has:

• 18 accommodation cells (most with two built-in bed bases and some with three)
• three detainee common rooms
• two isolation cells
• two padded cells
• four holding cells
• one exercise yard with access to the open air
• two interview rooms, one of which is non-contact.

We were told that up to 40 individuals can be accommodated (or 42 if the two isolation cells are used) when the watch-house is being used to its built/designed capacity.

The accommodation cells are divided into four distinct areas (units). Each unit has a corridor (spine) with a number of accommodation cells coming off it. The spines are separated by doors from other units and/or other corridors. The four accommodation units are made up of:

• the Men’s unit, with 11 accommodation cells and two common rooms with televisions
• the Women’s and girls’ unit, with four accommodation cells and one common room with a television
• the Boys’ unit, with three accommodation cells and no common room
• isolation cells, which are two standard single accommodation cells with no common room.

We observed that the areas the detainees use are of a design that offers ligature point reduction (which means that ‘hanging points’ are minimised).

Most areas of the watch-house, including cells, common rooms and the exercise yard, are covered by closed-circuit television cameras (CCTV), with monitors located in the officers’ area. The CCTV system features a black square on each monitor that covers the toilets, to block out the footage of a detainee using one of them. There is no CCTV coverage of any of the showers.

With the exception of the outdoor exercise yard, there is no natural light in the watch-house. There are no windows to the outside, either in the accommodation cells or common rooms. Research has demonstrated that access to natural light can impact on a detainee’s overall wellbeing.
Because of this alone, the Cairns watch-house should not be used to accommodate children for longer periods of time.

Boys’ unit

The Boys’ unit is separated from the other accommodation units by doors at the end of the spine, as shown in Figure 3.

Figure 3: Floor plan of the Boys’ unit at Cairns watch-house

Source: Office of the Queensland Ombudsman using information provided by the Queensland Police Service.

This has the advantage of allowing for physical separation from adult detainees and girls (although noise tends to travel around the whole watch-house). However, at times there are not enough cells for the number of boys in the watch-house, and some are held in cells in the Men’s unit. We discuss this in more detail in the following section on accommodation cells.

Photo 1 – The spine of the Boys’ unit. (Lunch had just finished and the unit had not yet been cleaned, so there is some rubbish visible in the photo.)

A significant disadvantage of the infrastructure as it relates to boys is that (as already noted) there is no common room or television attached to the unit. This means there is no dedicated area where boys can interact and watch television during the day. During the inspection, we saw boys with their mattresses on the floor at the doors of their cells, so they could converse with boys in other cells.

While they have access to the outdoor exercise yard, it is limited – often to an hour a day. Time in the exercise yard needs to be allocated to other groups (adult male detainees, adult female detainees, girls, and detainees who are in isolation). We were also told that watch-house staff try to give the boys time in one of the men’s common areas when the men are in the exercise yard. However, this is dependent on operational requirements, is only for about an hour, and is never guaranteed.

The combination of a lack of dedicated common room and a lack of access to an outdoor exercise yard can increase feelings of isolation and boredom. Over extended periods, this may negatively impact on the boys’ wellbeing. It is also inconsistent with relevant standards.

Women’s and girls’ unit

Unlike the Boys’ unit, the Women’s and girls’ unit has a common area/television room.

Photo 2 – Common room similar to the one located in the Women’s and girls’ unit.

We observed two girls using this room for significant periods of the day, watching television together (which is one of the limited number of activities available).

A disadvantage of this accommodation is that adult female detainees and girls may be in the same unit. Even though they physically cannot access each other (they are always separated by at least one or two doors), they are able to communicate, as the cell doors open into the common spine, as shown in Figure 4.

Figure 4: Floor plan of the Women’s and girls’ unit at Cairns watch-house

Source: Office of the Queensland Ombudsman using information provided by the Queensland Police Service.

Section 16.12.1 of the Queensland Police Service’s Operational Procedures Manual (OPM) states that ‘children are not to be placed in the same cell as an adult prisoner, unless there are compelling reasons in the child’s interests’, for example:

… the custody of an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander youth with an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander adult prisoner may be safer than isolation where the child is agreeable, and the adult is the same gender.

While placing girls and adult women in the same unit does not breach the OPM requirement, we are concerned that it provides an opportunity for an adult detainee to communicate with a child. This could mean verbal abuse, threats or other inappropriate communication.

Murgon watch-house

The Murgon watch-house was built in 2010. It has:

• five individual accommodation cells (four with a two-bed capacity and one single cell)
• two common rooms
• one padded cell and one holding cell
• one non-contact interview room
• no usable outdoor exercise yard.

As four accommodation cells have double capacity, nine individuals can be accommodated under the watch-house’s designed/built capacity.

The accommodation is divided into two distinct areas:

• Unit 1 has three accommodation cells (two double and one single), which open onto a common room/television area, with a shower accessible from the common room.
• Unit 2 has two accommodation cells (both doubles), which open onto a common room/television area, with a shower accessible from the common room (see Figure 5).

As we will discuss below, these two units are used in a flexible manner, and various configurations are used to accommodate men, women, boys and girls (depending on the mix on any given day).

Figure 5 – Plan of Unit 2 at Murgon watch-house

Note: The plan is not to scale.
Source: Office of the Queensland Ombudsman using information provided by the Queensland Police Service.

Both units are adjacent to a large, open-plan area that contains a reception counter and officers’ area. The wall between the accommodation units and the cells that adjoin the officers’ area is made of a glass-type material with internal blinds. When the blinds are open, officers can see directly into the common areas and some cells. This provides much greater visual connection between officers and detainees than the Cairns watch-house has.

We observed that the areas of the watch-house used by detainees are of a modern, ligature point-reduced design (again, reducing hanging points).

All key areas of the watch-house, including cells, are covered by CCTV, with monitors located in the officers’ area. (There are no privacy squares on the monitors in the areas of the toilets.)

Unlike Cairns, Murgon has windows to the outside from the common areas and some cells that allow some natural light to enter both units.

Accommodation for boys and girls

Unlike Cairns, Murgon’s infrastructure does not allow for discrete areas to accommodate boys and girls, so the accommodation units are used flexibly, depending on demand.

During our visit, two boys were being accommodated in Unit 2 (Cell C4) and one girl was being accommodated in the same unit (Cell C5). While this allowed for separation of children from adults, it did not allow for complete separation of the boys from the girl.

At times during our inspection, the two boys were in the common room when the girl was in her cell. Section 16.12.1 of the OPM states that ‘male and female prisoners are not to be held in the same cell or permitted direct access to each other in other areas within a watch‑house’.

There is no direct access, but because the cells open directly onto the common area, the boys could communicate with the girl or look into her cell through a mesh panel inserted into the door (see photos 3 and 4).

Photo 3 (composite image) – Murgon watch-house common room with two cells (C4 and C5) opening onto it. This photo also shows the shower access and the mesh in the cell door (lower right).

Photo 4 – Close-up of mesh panel in cell door in Murgon watch-house.

Photos 5 and 6 – Inside Cell C5 in Murgon watch-house.

Children cannot be completely separated from adults when men, women and children are accommodated in the watch-house at the same time. We were told that adults and children never share a cell, and men would never be placed in the same accommodation unit as children. However, as mentioned previously, women sometimes are.

One advantage of Murgon over Cairns is that each unit has its own common room with a television. (See Photo 3.) This means that, depending on the mix of detainees on any given day, children are likely to spend time in the common room, mixing with other children and/or watching television.

Watch-house staff advised us that they prioritise Cell 4 for children, as it allows them to watch television from the inspection slot of the cell. We observed that children had placed their mattresses on the floor of Cell 4 near the door to do this.

Accommodation cells

Cairns watch-house

The cells used to accommodate children and adults in the Cairns watch-house are generally similar in size and design. They contain two or three raised concrete platforms for mattresses to be placed on. The size of the cells appears adequate for the accommodation of two people.

In the Boys’ unit, the three cells can accommodate two boys each. At times, however, more than five boys are held in the watch-house. During our inspection, two of the boys’ cells were accommodating three boys each, meaning at least two (one in each room) had to sleep on mattresses on the floor.

Photos 7 and 8 – Accommodation cells in the Boys’ unit at the Cairns watch-house.

Photo 9 – An accommodation cell in the Women’s and girls’ unit at the Cairns watch-house.

We reviewed Queensland Police Service records for the period from 16 December 2023 to 16 January 2024, which included the three days during which we carried out our onsite inspection. As shown in Graph 3, in that time, the number of boys in the watch-house ranged from two to 16 and the number of girls ranged from zero to four.

Graph 3: Number of boys and girls in the Cairns watch-house 16 December 2023 to 16 January 2024

Note: This shows the number of children who were in the Cairns watch-house as at 5.00 am or 6.00 am on each day, apart from 18 and 25 December 2023, when it was at 2.00 pm.
Source: Office of the Queensland Ombudsman using information provided by the Queensland Police Service.

As shown in Graph 3, up to 16 boys were held overnight at the watch-house in the period from 16 December 2023 to 16 January 2024. With only three Boys’ unit cells, each designed to accommodate two people, it means these boys were held in overcrowded cells in the Boys’ unit, in isolation cells, or in cells in the Mens’ unit, as shown in Table 1.

Table 1: Number and location of boys held in Cairns watch-house – 10 to 16 January 2024

Note: This shows the number of children in the Cairns watch-house as at 5.00 am or 6.00 am each day.
Source: Office of the Queensland Ombudsman using information provided by the Queensland Police Service.

We acknowledge that it may be preferable for children to share a cell, particularly given the lack of areas to interact and activities available to them. Sharing a cell allows them to interact with each other. But care needs to be taken to ensure there are no specific risks that may be posed to any of the children when sharing.

Having many children sharing a cell gives them no privacy and increases the potential for conflict.

The lights in the accommodation cells and spine areas are dimmed overnight, but never turned off. We were advised that this is to allow staff to conduct overnight cell checks on detainees. We understand that some children complain about the impact this has on their sleep.

Accommodation cells – Murgon watch-house

The accommodation cells throughout the Murgon watch-house are largely the same as each other. With the exception of one cell in Unit 1, they contain two raised concrete platforms for mattresses.

We observed up to two children being accommodated per cell.

As with Cairns, while lighting in the accommodation cells and common areas can be dimmed, it is left on overnight.

Photo 10 – Cell C4 at Murgon watch-house, with mattresses on the floor so children can watch television on the opposite wall of the common room through a slot or mesh in the cell door.

Privacy

Toilets

Each cell has one toilet located in one of the far corners. A basin with access to running water is located above the toilet cistern.

Photos 11 and 12 – Cell toilet in Cairns cell. Photo 12 shows the view of the toilet from one of the beds.

Photos 13 and 14 – Cell toilet in Murgon cell. Photo 13 shows the proximity of the bed adjacent to the toilet.

The toilets have a partial wall that provides some privacy in terms of the view from the spine into the cell. It provides little privacy from others in the cell, especially when three or more children are sharing it. There is a bed adjacent to the toilet (see Photos 12 and 14).

In the Cairns watch-house, we saw children using their mattresses to surround themselves in an attempt to get privacy when using the toilet. We were advised that this is a common practice, and that children do the same at Murgon.

Showers

In the Cairns watch-house, each unit has its own shower area. We were told children are offered daily showers and given a clean towel and soap and shampoo for every shower.

The shower area has no door from the spine (see Figure 4). This means there is a risk that staff and/or detainees can see a child in the shower from the spine when walking past. We are concerned that this lack of privacy may not meet the international standards identified earlier in this chapter.

Photo 15 – Shower in the Women’s and girls’ unit at the Cairns watch-house, as seen from the doorway.

In the Murgon watch-house, as mentioned previously, each common room has a shower attached to it. We were told by watch-house staff that children are offered daily showers, and we confirmed this through a review of a sample of children’s detention files. We also observed children being provided with a clean towel, soap and shampoo on each occasion.

The wall that adjoins the common room is made from a glass-type material; however, most of the door and the wall is covered in an opaque material, which means only the feet of a child would be visible while in the shower areas (see Photo 3 for shower location). This design offers more privacy than the showers at the Cairns watch-house.

Outdoor exercise yard

Cairns watch-house

The Cairns watch-house contains a large outdoor exercise yard with high, solid walls and a caged roof that lets sunlight through. The ground is concrete. We saw boys and (separately) men using this exercise yard on one of the days we were at the watch-house. The boys were kicking or throwing balls or talking in small groups.

Most boys were gathered in the small amounts of shade offered in the yard. During our visit in January 2024, we went into the yard a short time after the men had been using it. We found it to be oppressively hot, with little shade.

Photo 16 – The exercise yard at the Cairns watch-house. (Note the partially exposed toilet at left.)

Watch-house staff told us that children use the area for at least an hour a day, and often for longer periods (when operationally possible). However, we were also told by some children that they had not been out to the exercise yard for a number of days prior to our inspection.

We found that staff do not consistently record that a child has been out in the exercise yard. This makes it difficult to either confirm or deny the daily access.

While the exercise yard may provide adequate access to the outdoors for very short stays, it is not an adequate arrangement for children being held longer term. By way of comparison, children held in youth detention centres are expected to have some access to grassed ovals for exercise and activity. The Cairns watch-house does not provide the same.

Given the absence of natural light inside the watch-house and the extremely limited activities available, the failure to provide children with daily access to the exercise yard can impact on their wellbeing, and it is inconsistent with relevant international standards.

Murgon watch-house

One of the most significant limitations of the Murgon watch-house is that it has no useable outside exercise yard, and therefore no access to outdoor fresh air. While a small outdoor room is attached to the watch-house, it is not used, cannot be accessed without leaving the watch-house, and is not fit for purpose. This is inconsistent with international standards and is likely to impact on children’s psychological and physical wellbeing.

Because of this alone, the Murgon watch-house should not be used to accommodate children for longer periods of time.

Space in the cells and common area is insufficient for children to engage in physical activities.

Photo 17 – The disused exercise yard at the Murgon watch-house.

Interview rooms

The Cairns watch-house has one non-contact interview room and one other interview room (which is also used for video conferencing). As the watch-house has the capacity to hold 42 detainees, only having two rooms available limits the ability for people from the outside (that is, family or professional visitors) to interact with a child held in the watch-house. Watch-house staff confirmed that it impacts on their capacity to facilitate visits to children during the day.

There is also only one non-contact interview room at Murgon, but it only has nine detainees to share it. As shown in Photos 18 and 19, the visitor sits on one side of a glass partition and the child on the other.

Photos 18 and 19: Non-contact interview room at the Murgon watch-house.

Padded cells

The Cairns watch-house has two padded cells.

The Murgon watch-house contains one padded cell of a similar design to those at Cairns.

Photo 20 – A padded cell at the Cairns watch-house.

Telephones

There is only one telephone available for all detainees at the Cairns watch-house to use to speak to family and relevant others, and it is located at the counter in the reception/officers’ area. This means the children have limited access to it. We were told that their access is also affected by other detainees using the phone and by operational demands on staff.

There is very little privacy for children when using this telephone, as conversations can be overheard by watch-house staff and any other person in that area at the time (such as another detainee being admitted).

Unlike Cairns, Murgon has one telephone between a maximum of nine detainees, which is likely to allow better access for the children. Also, the telephone is located in a much more private area, allowing for confidential communication.

Maintenance and hygiene

Cairns watch-house

A permanent cleaner is employed to clean the Cairns watch-house, and we were advised that the cleaner attends the watch-house daily.

We walked through the units shortly after lunch, and saw food wrappers, uneaten lunches and other items left around the cells and in the spine areas (as shown in Photo 1), which made the area look untidy. On another day, we observed the unit after the cleaner had been through, and it was much cleaner.

There is a lot of graffiti on the walls of all three boys’ cells (as shown in Photos 7 and 8). We were advised that the area had recently been cleaned and painted, but it was difficult to keep it that way.

Murgon watch-house

We found the Murgon watch-house to be clean and well maintained. This included the accommodation cells, common areas and officers’ area. A cleaner is permanently employed to clean the watch-house and adjoining police station, and we were advised that they do so daily. We saw the cleaner in the watch-house, and confirmed, when reviewing a sample of children’s detention files, that there were regular file notations of cells being cleaned.

No damage to fixtures or other property was evident. Unlike in Cairns, the cells and common areas were largely free from graffiti.

Mattresses and bedding

From our observations and the information provided, we were generally satisfied with the provision and condition of mattresses, bedding and clothing provided to children at both watch-houses.

Improving watch-house infrastructure

Our inspection identified a range of deficiencies in the suitability of the watch-house infrastructure at Cairns and Murgon for the detention of children. These are summarised in the key observations section at the start of this chapter.

The Queensland Police Service submission in response to this report acknowledges that watch-houses in Queensland were not designed to hold people in custody beyond 72 hours. It mentioned the lack of outside exercise yards by way of example.

The response also advises of two current Queensland Police Service reviews that relate to watch-house infrastructure:

• a review of the Queensland Police Service design building manual in response to the design and development of the Wacol Remand Centre
• a broader review of watch-houses, announced in July 2024, that will examine the three areas of people, operations and capital. 

The Queensland Police Service advises that a substantial consideration of this review will be extended custody operations, particularly for young people.

Queensland Police Service notes in its submission that retrofitting current facilities will require significant financial resources. We acknowledge this limitation on the capacity of the Queensland Police Service to effect improvements to infrastructure. However, if children are to continue to be detained in Queensland’s watch-houses, then it is vital that problems with each facility be identified, and strategies be identified to address the risks they create for the safety of children. 

Strategies could include seeking capital funding from government for watch-house infrastructure improvements, or identifying watch-houses that should not be used for detaining children for long periods – or a combination of the two.

Based on our inspection findings, we recommend that both of the above reviews assess the issues arising from watch-house infrastructure that create risk of harm to children, and develop strategies to address them. Based on our inspection, issues that ought to be considered include:

• capacity to separate adults from children
• capacity to separate boys from girls
• provision of separate common areas
• access to fresh air
• access to natural light
• impact of continuous lighting of cells at night
• availability of private areas to conduct admission assessments
• availability of facilities and telephones to support contact with family
• privacy of toilets and showers.

Children need to be safe when they are held in custody. Their admission to a watch-house must identify their individual risks and critical needs so they can be addressed. An assessment needs to be able to identify if a child:

• is at risk of self-harm or suicide
• has any critical physical health and medical needs that must be addressed
• has any mental health or cognitive impairments requiring special management.

Children who are admitted to watch-houses often have complex needs that affect their ability to communicate and interact with those undertaking an assessment. For example, they may present with mental health and/or cognitive issues (such as Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder or Autism Spectrum Disorder). This is likely to affect their information processing and executive functioning (their working memory, flexible thinking and self‑control). 

Other issues, for example, traumatic backgrounds, hearing impairments and/or substance use, can also affect their communication and understanding. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children may also have specific cultural communication needs.

We refer to ‘culturally appropriate’, and ‘trauma-informed’ approaches throughout this report, because they are relevant to the needs of children detained in watch-houses. Trauma-informed approaches recognise the effects of trauma on people’s behaviour and needs. At the very least, they aim to not harm people any further. Similarly, culturally appropriate approaches aim to be understanding of, and responsive to, the needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

Lack of involvement of specialist staff in the process

The Deputy State Coroner’s June 2024 report into the death of two women, one at Southport watch-house and the other at Brisbane City watch‑house, identified the need for:

• increased training for watch-house officers and specialised police officers working within Queensland watch-houses
• Queensland Health to place nursing and/or paramedical clinicians in all Queensland watch-houses on a 24 hours a day, 7-days a week basis
• the initial health assessment of people in a watch-house to be conducted by a Queensland Health Clinician.

We support these recommendations.

No specialist health staff (for example, registered nurses, psychologists or other allied health professionals) are involved in the initial assessment of children when they are admitted to a watchhouse. Instead, a police officer is responsible for identifying who may be at risk of self-harm or suicide, or who may have physical or mental health concerns that need immediate attention or adjustments put in place. In most cases, the officer will not have undergone any specialist training.

By comparison, a child admitted to a youth detention centre and an adult admitted to a prison will be subject to an assessment of their risk of self-harm or their suicide status by either a multi-disciplinary team, which includes professional staff (in the case of a youth detention centre) or a counsellor/psychologist who has been specifically trained (in the case of a prison).

This reflects the relevant international standards and recognises that there are various challenges in communicating with and assessing people in these circumstances. When staff have specialist training, they can apply expertise to the critical task of assessing risks and needs.

Health professionals are also involved in the health assessments on admission to both youth detention centres and prisons. 

We are concerned that police officers in the watch-houses have either inadequate or no specific training in areas including:

• communicating with children with traumatic backgrounds, mental health issues, cognitive impairments and/or other complex needs
• engaging with Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait children.

It is unrealistic to expect all police officers to be able, without appropriate guidance and training, to adequately phrase questions in a trauma-informed and culturally appropriate manner, or in a way that can be understood by a child with a cognitive impairment. While some training modules are available to police officers (for example, on cultural competency) they are not mandatory or specific to the needs of children.

The assessment process in both watch-houses for at-risk status and health is outlined in Chapter 16 of the Queensland Police Service’s Operational Procedures Manual (OPM) and requires, among other things, police officers to assess and reassess a detainee using a series of questions.

The OPM also requires the officer to carefully observe the person, looking for various signs, symptoms or indications of health concerns, disability, or vulnerability. However, it is not always specific in its requirements. For example, it says that if a ‘reasonable degree of suspicion’ is identified, watch-house officers must contact a professional health care provider and closely monitor the person. (It does not clarify what ‘a reasonable degree of suspicion’ means.)

The officers are often referred back to various policies and procedures within the OPM for further guidance. In undertaking these tasks, police officers, in most cases, are required to rely on training they received when they first joined the police service.

These observations are not intended to reflect negatively on the professionalism of the officers we dealt with during our inspections. However, when it comes to identifying and assessing the complex needs of children admitted to watch-houses, there is no effective substitute for the involvement of expert and appropriately trained staff such as registered nurses, psychologists and other allied health professionals.

If the child has an injury, or a reasonable suspicion is formed about a health condition, the police must involve health professionals. In the case of Murgon, that usually involves attendance by the Queensland Ambulance Service and, where necessary, transport to the local hospital for assessment and treatment.

Similar arrangements apply in Cairns, which has a contracted registered nurse onsite during the day (seven days a week) to provide medical assistance. While the nurse is not involved in the admission assessment process, we saw evidence of health care professionals being involved at other times, and of health care referrals being made.

However, we are concerned that self-harm/suicide risks or significant health and medical issues may not be identified through the admission process. This would leave a child, who may subsequently spend many days or even weeks detained in the watch-house, with unaddressed risks or medical needs. The consequences could be catastrophic.

Case study 1 gives an example of a child who made disclosures about their physical and mental health in the admission assessment that were not followed up until many days later.

We saw some evidence (including in file reviews) of specialist staff attending to undertake certain assessments of children at both watch-houses. Cairns has effective communication arrangements in place with external service providers (such as the Child and Youth Forensic Health Outreach Service), which allow their staff to visit and assess children. However, this generally only occurs when the child is known to those services and has an ongoing relationship with them, or when a specific referral has been made to them by watch-house staff or other service providers.

Senior police at the Murgon watch-house advised that, in most cases, the children being admitted are already known to the police and have been through the watch-house on many occasions. Officers told us that, because of this, they understand the children and their needs. They also rely on information provided to them by the Department of Youth Justice.

Similar advice was provided to us in relation to the Cairns watch-house, with staff stating they have good background knowledge about a number of children.

While we accept that familiarity with the children assists in identifying their individual needs, it is still not a substitute for the much more rigorous processes discussed and does not identify any health or substance abuse issues that have occurred between admissions.

Inadequacy of the assessment tools

Culturally appropriate assessment tools that are suitable to a child’s age and level of development should be used to identify the specific needs and risks associated with children. We are concerned that the policy and assessment tool police officers currently use is not designed for children. The tool used at both watch-houses is the same as that used for adults.

A child who is being admitted is asked a series of questions, and officers undertake various observations of the child. Section 16.13.1 of the OPM also requires them to:

• seek from police, watch-house officers or other people who have had contact with the detainee, ‘information that will assist in the management of the prisoner’
• locate ‘medication etc. in their property’
• check ‘relevant QPRIME entries’. (QPRIME is the Queensland Police Service information system.)

Notwithstanding these other potential sources of information, much seems to rest on the questionnaire police use when a child is admitted. They use it to assess drug and alcohol issues and assess suicide/self-harm risk.

Figure 6 is an extract from a custody report of a child admitted to the watch-house. It shows the admission questions and the child’s responses.

Figure 6: Extract of a custody report – questions asked at admission to a watch-house

Source: Queensland Police Service.

This, along with observing the child, obtaining information from others at the time of admission, and checking the police system, is the sum total of the assessment process.

Children are expected to be responsible for providing accurate and truthful information about such matters as their health, drug use and self-harm/suicide risk.

We are concerned that this does not give adequate regard to a child’s age, level of development, possible mental health/cognitive limitations, and ability to understand. No other tools are used to identify cognitive function, vulnerability or other needs. There is, for example, no process to record body-mass index (BMI), weight or nutritional needs, or to assess potential hearing impairments.

This is in contrast to the more rigorous approach applied for children being admitted to youth detention centres or even adults being admitted to prison.

Based on our reviews of Queensland Police Service records, observations at the watch‑houses and discussions with watch-house staff, the police are compliant with the assessment process outlined in the OPM. Our concern is not with their level of compliance, but with the adequacy of the tools and processes.

Impact on prioritisation processes

The Youth Justice Act 1992 (s 56) sets out the matters that Youth Justice must consider in deciding when to admit a child from a watch-house to a youth detention centre. This includes the child’s needs regarding:

• their historic and current self-harm risk and suicide risk
• their medical conditions
• their physical health and mental health issues
• their substance misuse and withdrawal issues
• their cognitive capacity
• any other issue that may affect the child’s health or wellbeing in a watch-house environment or while being transported between a watch-house and a detention centre.

We are aware that the Department of Youth Justice has developed Prioritisation Assessment Guidelines to assist in identifying those children who should be admitted to a youth detention centre from a watch-house as a matter of priority. These are essentially based on the identified vulnerability of the child.

For example, some of the criteria that indicate vulnerability (and priority for transfer and admission) include ‘cognitive impairment/speech and language deficits’ and ‘mental health conditions including ADHD’. Without any specific assessment tools being applied at the watch-house, such matters are only likely to be identified if the child is already known to the Queensland Police Service or the Department of Youth Justice or other service providers, and if previous assessments have been completed and shared between the relevant departments.

We are concerned that the police admission assessment process is unlikely to identify these matters, which may mean Youth Justice prioritisation decisions could be based on incomplete or incorrect information.

Where the admission process takes place

The admission assessment at both the Cairns and Murgon watch-houses is carried out at the main counter in the reception area. This offers no privacy or confidentiality for communication with the child.

Children (or anyone admitted for detention in the watch-house) are required to stand behind a yellow line in front of a large counter, with the officer carrying out the admission process standing on the other side. In Murgon, the floor is raised on the officer’s side, which means the officer physically looks down on the detainee. In Cairns, they are on the same level.

In Cairns, the location where the child stands behind the yellow line at the counter is in a very busy and noisy area. The child stands in the middle of the only walkway between the external entry/exit door and all other parts of the watch-house. There can be a lot of people in the area, including watch-house staff, other police officers, detainees, service providers and legal officers.

Staff sitting at the desks in the officers’ area, or anyone else in that area at the time, can hear the admission process. Two holding cells are also located directly behind where the child stands. It is possible someone in those cells could overhear the child’s conversation with the officer.

Photo 21 – The admission area of the Cairns watch-house. Figure 7 – Plan of Cairns watch-house
Source: Office of the Queensland Ombudsman using information provided by the Queensland Police Service.

In Murgon, some cells and the detention common rooms open onto the area where the admission process is carried out, making it possible for other detainees in those areas to overhear.

Photo 22 – The admission area of the Murgon watch-house, showing proximity of cells and common room.

In both cases, the environment is not conducive to undertaking an effective and comprehensive admission assessment process. Many of the questions are of a highly confidential nature (for example, those about medical conditions or self-harm). Answering them truthfully may, on occasions, be embarrassing or culturally shameful for a child. Having the possibility of others, including other detainees, overhearing may lead to the child deciding not to make a disclosure that could be critical to their safe custody and wellbeing.

We were advised that the current locations are used because they are directly covered by closed circuit television camera (CCTV) and audio recording capability. There is also a computer available to the police officer to directly enter the information into the system.

The cumulative effect

We are concerned that the deficiencies in the admissions process may mean certain complex needs are being missed.

Failing to identify a significant health or medical issue means a child may be denied proper assessment and treatment by qualified health practitioners. Failing to identify significant cognitive issues may expose very vulnerable children to harm, for example, from those with whom they share a cell. The failure to identify a serious self-harm risk may also have dire consequences.

We are also concerned that Youth Justice prioritisation decisions for admission to a youth detention centre are being made with incomplete or incorrect information due to the police admission assessment process not identifying complex needs.

This further reinforces the importance of identifying children who may be at risk.

Appendix A - Queensland Police Service submission (PDF 1.1MB)

Appendix B - Department of Youth Justice submission (PDF 201.9KB)

Appendix C - Cairns and Hinterland Hospital and Health Service submission (PDF 179.8KB)

Appendix D - Office of the Public Guardian submission (PDF 187.6KB)

Appendix E - Office of the Health Ombudsman submission (PDF 999.7KB)

Appendix F - Queensland Health submission (PDF 222.2KB)

Appendix G - Darling Downs Hospital and Health Service submission (PDF 290.4KB)