"The Federal agreement to ratify the optional protocol on the convention against torture for children, with the move for an independent inspector of the detention centres here in Australia has been welcomed by Amnesty International," Mallinson tells SBS Living Black Radio.
"The next step would be a commitment from the federal and state governments to roll out the the Closing the Gap framework using justice targets."
Human rights abuses in up to 160 countries from around the world have come under the spotlight in a report released last week by Amnesty international.
The Amnesty State of the World's Human Rights Report 2016/17 criticises Australia's offshore-detention policy on asylum seekers and the failures of Australia's justice system for Indigenous people, particularly children.
"It is really ironic that in one breath we are resettling 10,000 Syrians but on the other side of the fence we've got Syrians and Rohingya who are incredibly vulnerable sitting languishing on Manus Island and Nauru."
Amid the recommendations, Amnesty International are calling on the Australian government to close Manus Island and Nauru detention centres and resettle those people here in Australia and go through the refugee assessment process and look after them.
Director of Amnesty International Claire Mallinson tells Living Black Radio, "It is really ironic that in one breath we are resettling 10,000 Syrians but on the other side of the fence we've got Syrians and Rohingya who are incredibly vulnerable sitting languishing on Manus Island and Nauru."
In the Indigenous human rights space, the new Amnesty Report points out that Indigenous children are 24 times more likely to be detained than non-Indigenous children and there are higher rates of incarceration, reports of abuse and deaths in custody.
"Indigenous children are 24 times more likely to be detained than non-Indigenous children"
"The Federal agreement to ratify the optional protocol on the convention against torture for children, with the move for an independent inspector of the detention centres here in Australia has been welcomed by Amnesty International," says Mallinson.
The images of First Nations youth Dylan Voller restrained in a chair with a spit hood over his head, by corrections staff at Don Dale Youth Detention centre in the Northern Territory further motivated the push to pressure the Australian government to ratify the optional protocol on the convention against torture for children.
The release of these images and footage of youth being held in isolation and capsicum sprayed increased the need for an Australian wide inquiry. The public outcry from the footage of the youth released on ABC Four Corners 'Austraiia's Shame' documentary sparked Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull to initiate The Royal Commission into the Protection and Detention of Children in the Northern Territory.
Youth justice case workers called for a Royal Commission within each state and jurisdiction due to the reports of procedure juvenile justice staff handling of young people as management procedures.
At the time the Prime Minister refused this and the decision was made by the Attorney-General, Senator the Hon George Brandis QC to recommend the Australian Law Reform Commission to hold an inquiry into the over-representation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in our prisons, and recommend law reform to address the high rates of incarceration of all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People.
The final report will be handed down from the Australian Law Reform Commission in December 2017 by his Honour Judge Matthew Myers AM.
"We need the Prime Minister to show national leadership."
Mallinson says, "for a us to see a decline in the high representation of Indigenous incarceration we need the government to make a firm commitment to make a national plan to address what is a 'national scandal,' in the over-representation of indigenous people, particularly Indigenous children, in the justice system."
"We need the Prime Minister to show national leadership, we’re wanting the government to include justice targets as part of the Closing the Gap Framework. And we need the government to ensure that all the states are on board."
"When Indigenous-led solutions are properly supported then they can have fantastic results."
Mallinson says, "Rather than putting more and more money into prisons we are actually adopting a new approach."
She says it's "one that’s focused around Indigenous-led solutions around prevention and diversionary programs."
"What our research shows is when Indigenous-led solutions are properly support then they can have fantastic results."
"We identified up in Queensland a scheme that was Indigenous -ed that had worked with children in the Cleveland Detention Centre and as a result two years on and none of those children had re offended or were back in detention."
Addressing the findings of the 2016/17 report on a more global scale, Mallinson says, "It's been a horrific year for millions of people who've been displaced from war and persecution."
She says, "our report identified that there were at least 23 countries where war crimes were committed.
"We've seen what's been happening on our TV screen in Syria and countries like Yemen where Saudia Arabia in particular has been bombing hospitals and schools and putting civilians and lives at risk".
The report indicates that the crisis of people fleeing war and persecution is politicised and assessed according to security and terrorism risks for the countries taking in new citizens.
Mallinson says, "What we need to see, is a fair share of responsibility in this area with all countries stepping up and saying we will support the people fleeing terror and torture."