Queensland unlawfully detained children in adult watch house without private toilet access, tribunal finds

State ordered to apologise after ruling finds it breached law when detaining teenagers in a Cairns watch house

The Queensland government broke the law and violated the human rights of three children by detaining them in an adult-only watch house without private toilet access or clean clothes, according to a tribunal judgment.

The case was brought by three teenagers separately detained in the Cairns watch house between June 2021 and 2022.

They were then aged between 13 and 17.