A 16-year-old boy was held in conditions resembling solitary confinement in an adult prison for 22 hours a day, which led him to consider suicide, according to a report by Victoria's ombudsman. The report, presented to parliament, found that the Department of Justice and Community Safety violated the teenager's human rights when transferring him from the Parkville Youth Justice Precinct to the maximum-security Melbourne Assessment Prison in early 2025. The transfer followed two formal warnings that he would be moved to an adult prison if his "violent behaviour" continued. Once at the adult prison, he was isolated due to his age, with records showing he spent more than 22 hours a day locked in his cell for six weeks. The ombudsman, Marlo Baragwanath, described the conditions as "bordering on solitary confinement." The cell was described as "cramped and worn," and the boy told the ombudsman he couldn't see out of the window. "I was shocked... if you're in some type of environment like that, I guess you have no hope," he said. "After a while, it starts playing with your mind." Even during his brief time outside his cell, the boy was confined to a space the ombudsman called "effectively a room that is open to the sky" and was handcuffed due to his history of violence. He ate his meals in his cell and drank directly from the tap because a guard refused to provide a cup. "I was like... 'I'm not a dog,' you know. [The guard] was like, 'Huh, you are, mate,'" the teen said. He also had no in-person visits from family during the six weeks, telling the ombudsman he was told he would not be able to touch them. "If I see them, I want to touch them 'cause, you know, that's my family," he said. The experience led him to suffer "dark, dark thoughts." "My cell was always dark. I can't see anything," he said. "It was playing with my mind. Started thinking stuff I've never thought before... a lot of self-harm... Suicidal stuff." Under Victorian law, children aged 15 or older can be transferred to an adult prison as a last resort. However, the ombudsman found that proper consideration was not given to the child's human rights during the transfer application. "I know many people will find it difficult to sympathise with a child who has been repeatedly violent towards youth justice staff. But human rights apply to everyone, including people accused or convicted of a crime," Baragwanath said. Tracy Beaton, Victoria's principal commissioner at the Commission for Children and Young People, said "children's human rights should never be an afterthought" and welcomed the ombudsman's eight recommendations, including a ban on transferring children to adult prisons, though the government rejected the idea. Mindy Sotiri, the executive director of the Justice Reform Initiative, said the report was "indicative of a system that is failing." "Quite aside from the harm that is caused to children in these circumstances, this approach does absolutely nothing to rehabilitate that child or reduce the risk of them reoffending," Sotiri said. Victorian senator Lidia Thorpe said, "Children need love and care and support. When we know that it costs over a million dollars to lock up a child, that money could be better in the wraparound services that actually make a child well." The Victorian Greens justice spokesperson, Katherine Copsey, described the report as an "indictment" of the Labor government, which last year introduced "adult time for violent crime" laws in response to rising youth offending. The Victorian Liberal spokesperson for youth justice, Renee Heath, said Labor was "failing at both ends of the youth justice system" – pointing to an audit released on Wednesday that found no evidence the government's $40m crime prevention program was working. According to the ombudsman, the teen was transferred back to an adult prison after he turned 18 and was no longer separated for safety.