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

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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.