UN rights chief urges Australia to overhaul detention policies

The UN’s top rights official yesterday urged Australia to reform its criminal and refugee detention systems, just days after the country’s prime minister took a veiled swipe at the international body.

Speaking in Sydney, United Nations Human Rights Commissioner Michelle Bachelet said she had been “shocked” to learn that the country’s age of criminal responsibility was just 10 years old, calling on Australia to raise the age to the “internationally accepted level” of 14 years.

The policy disproportionately affects indigenous children, who make up 70 percent of those aged under 14 held in Australian jails.