A damning report into a youth detention centre has revealed children being locked in graffiti-covered cells for entire days without a bed, running water or even a toilet.
The report investigating the Queensland detention centre found that, in some cases, children were being left in these rooms for as long as 20 hours a day and for up to 70 consecutive days.
Locking the children in the "separation" rooms was supposed to be a last resort, generally because of behaviour issues.
However, staff shortages in the Cleveland Youth Detention Centre in Townsville meant that staff from the Queensland Ombudsman's Inspector of Detention Services found on one day last year that 40 per cent of the centre's 96 inmates were in the bare cells.
The ombudman's staff observed children sleeping on mattresses thrown on the bare concrete floors - a stark contrast to adult prisons where basic facilities were provided.
The report raised concerns the separation rooms involved significant human rights issues, stating that children "should not be locked in rooms without a toilet, running water and bed, especially overnight".
"Children should not be treated less favourably than adults," the ombudsman said.
However, Queensland Premier Steven Miles, who will face the polls in October with youth crime being a key election battleground, appeared unconcerned.
The state was "stuck" with some detention facilities that were older than others, he said.
"We make no apology for detaining young people where that is necessary to keep them safe, to keep the community safe, and to deliver the kind of intensive rehabilitation programs," Mr Miles told reporters.
Youth Advocacy Centre director Katherine Hayes found the the report's findings shocking but not surprising.
"The report confirms everything we've known about this the whole time," she told AAP on Wednesday.
"It is a clear breach of their human rights but there's a prevailing view in Queensland that if these kids have done the wrong thing, they deserve whatever follows."
The report found separation rooms in other states, including NSW and Western Australia, have toilets and access to water.
The report found that the ombudsman's staff observed two children being left in separate bare cells overnight, in one case because their room had an ant infestation.
"We heard one child screaming and bashing his fists on the door of the room, asking to be let out," the report stated.
The report also revealed that the design of the rooms meant staff and counsellors had to sit on the floor to talk through grills when wanting to communicate with the children.
"We observed youth detention workers, client services staff (including the children’s caseworkers and psychologists), and a visitor from the Office of the Public Guardian speaking to children locked in their rooms through the door grate, including by sitting on the floor," the report found.
The ombudsman acknowledged that from October last year more staff were brought on board which reduced the use of separations and gave children better access to services such as education.
In April, the Queensland Government amended laws to ensure suitable staffing but the ombudsman said it would be difficult to recruit given the tight labour market.
Until then, the centre needed to find ways to keep children out of separation and the department must undertake broad reform of the site's workforce, infrastructure and systems.
The report made 15 recommendations including amending the Youth Justice Act to better protect children in isolation and ensuring all separation rooms had proper amenities.
The Department of Youth Justice said it accepted the recommendations aimed at improving recruitment and systems in-principle.
It said the report highlighted staffing issues from a year ago and the centre had since recruited more workers.
However, Ms Hayes said that even with more staff, detention centres were not addressing the root cause of offending and the mistreatment would only cause more criminal activity.
"There's no appetite from the government or the opposition to promptly address this and that means the community is not going to be safer because the kids will continue to offend," she said.
