Twenty-one children wrongfully arrested because of a computer error have joined a class action against the NSW government.
The move comes after the government failed to deliver on a promise made last June to fix the problem with the Department of Justice computer system, which police use when making arrests. Solicitors involved in the class action said that since then at least 11 children had been wrongfully arrested because of out-of-date information on the system.
Vavaa Mawuli, a senior solicitor with PIAC who is co-ordinating the action, said young people continued to be wrongfully detained, despite the class action.
Ms Mawuli is speaking this week at the Juvenile Justice Summit in Melbourne about the class action, launched by PIAC and law firm Maurice Blackburn.
Ms Mawuli will tell the Juvenile Justice Summit about the extensive campaign undertaken by PIAC and other organisations in the Children in Detention Advocacy Project, leading to the launch of the class action.
Her presentation will also look at the role played by police practices, bail laws and government policies in the routine unlawful and unnecessary detention of young people.
Read the Sun Herald story.
Related coverage: Children sue police over wrongful arrests. The Wire, 2SER, 26 March 2012.
For more information about the class action, contact Vavaa Mawuli or visit the Facebook page.
Photo: Class action lead applicant, Musa Konneh. Ben Rushton/Sun Herald