Profound injustices underpin the youth justice detention systems in Australia, injustices stemming from children’s experiences of poverty, ongoing colonialism, institutional racism, and exclusionary education systems. These structural inequities contribute to the disproportionate incarceration of First Nations children. This chapter critically examines Australia’s youth justice detention systems, highlighting the fragmented and inadequate incorporation of children’s rights. It explores the concept of decarceration, outlining its role as a necessary step toward the abolition of youth detention. Finally, the chapter considers how recurring racialized media narratives about youth offending interlink with some governments endorsing ‘penal populism’, a relationship reinforcing punitive policies over progressive rights-based reform in this context.