A coalition of community groups has called for immediate action after new data analysis showed Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children are jailed at a significantly higher rate than non-Indigenous children.
from the Sentencing Advisory Council of Victoria found in many Australian states and territories, Indigenous kids were over-represented at a rate in the double digits.
In the Northern Territory the rate is 43 times higher for Indigenous children.
The ratio remains high for Queensland (23 times greater), Western Australia (21 times greater), South Australia (20 times greater), NSW (12 times greater), Victoria (10 times greater), ACT (8 times greater) and Tasmania (4 times greater).
Nationally, Indigenous kids are jailed at a rate 17 times higher than their non-Indigenous counterparts.
Although there has been a drop from the , campaigners said the level remains unacceptably high.
Sophie Trevitt from Change the Record alliance of Aboriginal peak bodies and non-Indigenous community groups said the figures should prompt action.
"It is appalling to have a situation where, for example, in the Northern Territory, an Aboriginal child is 43 times more likely to be incarcerated than their non-Indigenous peers. It just shows us how much disparity and inequality exists in our community.
"No 10, 11, or 12-year-old should be condemned to that kind of inequality to last through their entire lives, if they are pushed at such a young age into the criminal justice system."
According to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, Indigenous kids aged between 10-17 accounted for in jail in 2018-19, despite only accounting for 5.9 per cent of Australia's child population.
Later this month, attorney-generals from around the country will meet to discuss the outcome of a national review to raise the age of criminal responsibility from 10 to 14.
Nationally, Indigenous kids are jailed at a rate that is 17 times greater than non-Indigenous kids. Source: Sentencing Advisory Council of Victoria
Ms Trevitt said there is an opportunity for a historic decision to be made to reform outdated laws.
"Every day that a 10-year-old child is locked up in prison is a day too many.
"So if the attorneys-general fail to reach agreement on 27 July, but there are some states and territories who have the courage and the leadership to take this important step, and to protect these lives of these very young children, then we absolutely encourage these states and territories to go it alone.
"What we need is to be doing everything possible to keep extremely young children out of the criminal justice system."
A justice target is being considered as part of an overhaul of the Closing the Gap targets on Indigenous health, education and wellbeing.
Ms Trevitt said legislative reform to increase the minimum age at which children can be imprisoned would go a long way in improving outcomes for Indigenous Australians.
"If the governments are serious about Closing the Gap then there are very specific things they can do to turn the tide on the appalling track record that Australia has when it comes to the mass incarceration of Aboriginal people.
"And one of those things is not locking up very young children because we know it sets those kids on a trajectory, sometimes for the rest of their lives."
In November last year, the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child the age of criminal responsibility be increased to 14 to bring the country into line with international standards, and to comply with commitments under the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
Australia's minimum age of criminal responsibility is lower than the global average of 12.1 years and the European Union member states' average of 14 years.
