South Australia

Cost asymmetry

Detention scale

Indigenous-controlled share

SA oversight findings

• SA·Training Centre Visitor (SA)·2026-02-02

  Provide Communication Support and Training for Court Professionals. Rationale: Children and young people - particularly those with disability, neurodivergence, hearing loss, language barriers or cultural differences - face heightened barriers to understanding and participation in court. The Inquiry identified inconsistent communication practices and limited specialist capability across court environments. Method: a) Further expand upon training for judicial officers, lawyers and court staff on child development, communication needs, disability, trauma-informed practice and culturally responsive engagement.

  Source report
• SA·Training Centre Visitor (SA)·2026-02-02

  Raise Awareness and Clarify Legislation on AVL Use. Rationale: The Inquiry identified ambiguity in how legislative thresholds governing AVL use are understood and applied in practice. This has contributed to default AVL practices. Method: a) Issue clear legislative and policy guidance clarifying that AVL use is conditional, not presumptive, and must meet the statutory threshold of being appropriate and reasonable in the individual circumstances of the child or young person. b) Require decision-makers to explicitly consider participation, understanding, disability, cultural factors and access to legal representation when determining mode of appearance. c) Embed periodic independent review of AVL use against rights-based indicators.

  Source report
• SA·Training Centre Visitor (SA)·2026-02-02

  Ensure Choice and Inclusion in Court Appearances. Rationale: The Inquiry found that children and young people have limited awareness of their right to seek an in- person court appearance and are rarely supported to exercise informed choice. The routine use of AVL risks displacing the child from decisions that directly affect their rights and participation. Method: a) Require that children and young people are proactively informed, in accessible formats, of their right to request an in-person appearance and to discuss this with their lawyer. b) Prohibit default AVL use for substantive hearings, including sentencing, bail determinations and trials, unless an individualised assessment determines that AVL is appropriate and reasonable in the child’s best interests. c) Ensure that any decision to proceed via AVL is documented and based on informed consent following legal advice

  Source report
• SA·Training Centre Visitor (SA)·2026-02-02

  Establish Private and Appropriate AVL Settings. Rationale: The Inquiry found that conducting court proceedings via AVL in informal or shared detention spaces undermines dignity, privacy and behavioural regulation. Inadequate environments contribute to confusion, distress and escalation. Method: a) Establish purpose-designed, private AVL suites within detention facilities that are used exclusively for court proceedings, ensuring it can safely cater for the legal, technical and environmental needs of the child or young person. b) Prohibit the use of recreational or multi-purpose spaces for AVL court appearances. c) Ensure access to private, unsupervised consultation spaces for confidential communication with lawyers before, during and after court.

  Source report
• SA·Training Centre Visitor (SA)·2026-02-02

  Guidance for non-essential AYTC staff attendance in court proceedings. Rationale: The Inquiry heard that the presence of non-essential custodial or operational staff carried inherent risks to children and young people’s rights to privacy. Clear safeguards are required to ensure that any staff attendance at court is necessary, transparent, rights-respecting, and accountable. Method: a) Require all non-essential AYTC staff who attend AVL court proceedings involving detained children and young people to be formally recorded as in attendance. b) Limit attendance to circumstances where there is a clear and documented justification demonstrating that the staff member’s presence is necessary to support the child/young person or the administration of justice. c) DHS to develop and deliver mandatory, role-specific training for any staff who may attend AVL court proceedings, covering privacy and confidentiality obligations; d) DHS to establish clear policies and practice guidance governing attendance and confidentiality as it relates to AVL court proceedings (or supplement existing policies to ensure this is addressed).

  Source report
• SA·Training Centre Visitor (SA)·2026-02-02

  Strengthening Children’s Participation and Voice in Youth Justice Proceedings. Rationale: Children and young people involved in youth justice proceedings have a right to be heard, understood, and meaningfully involved in legal processes that affect them. Effective participation is central to procedural fairness, the child’s experience of justice, and the legitimacy of court outcomes. Oversight observations from this Inquiry indicate that children’s participation can be diminished where proceedings are highly legalistic, time-pressured, or conducted via AVL. In these contexts, children may experience proceedings as remote, confusing, or something done to them rather than with them. Legal representatives play a pivotal role in translating legal processes into meaningful participation for children. This responsibility is heightened in AVL proceedings and in circumstances where decisions about mode of appearance are made, as addressed in Recommendation 3. Method: That legal representatives for children and young people strengthen practice expectations and supports to ensure that children and young people are active participants in their AVL proceedings through: a) Applying heightened participation and engagement safeguards where proceedings are conducted via AVL, recognising the increased risk of disengagement, misunderstanding, and reduced communication. b) Preparing children specifically for AVL appearances, including how they can communicate, seek clarification, and raise concerns during proceedings. c) Actively monitoring the child/young person’s engagement during AVL proceedings and advocating for breaks, adjustments, or alternative arrangements where effective participation is compromised. In implementing these measures, particular attention should be given to Aboriginal children and young people, for whom barriers to participation and trust in legal processes may be heightened.

  Source report

National oversight findings (federal scope)

• National·Productivity Commission·2026-01-31

  Address widening gap in Year 9 NAPLAN results between metropolitan and remote students

• National·Universities Accord·2024-02-25

  Implement needs-based university funding to replace demand-driven system

• National·Universities Accord·2024-02-25

  Set a target of 80% of the working-age population to hold a post-school qualification by 2050

• National·Australian Human Rights Commission·2023-11-20

  That all Australian governments end the use of solitary confinement, isolation, and segregation of children in youth detention, consistent with the Mandela Rules and Havana Rules

  Source report