Exclude children from detention, parole and bail terrorism laws, inquiry told

The government is attempting to push through laws that would extend restrictions on granting bail or parole to those who have demonstrated support for or have links to terrorist activity, on top of the restrictions that already exist for those charged with or convicted of a terrorism offence.

Both the Law Council of Australia and the Human Rights Commission argued children should not be included in the legislation, and provisions to ensure decisions were made in the best interest of the child did not go far enough.

Human Rights Commissioner Ed Santow said Australia must abide by the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, including by prioritising rehabilitation and restorative justice.

"Detaining a child is very serious, it negatively affects [their] development, education and capacity to integrate back into society," Mr Santow said.

Provisions setting non-parole periods at 75 per cent of a main sentence also meant courts couldn't consider other factors and act in the best interest of children, he said.

He said the legislation should be amended to change the presumption in favour of bail for children, even though the presumption is against bail in the case of adults. This would still allow judges to refuse bail where appropriate.

"There is evidence to suggest denying bail to a child would be likely to have a devastating effect on the child, but only a marginal impact [on] protecting the community," Mr Santow said.