Australia's human rights commissioner is demanding the government release a report by the United Nations after a visit to detention facilities was blocked by NSW and Queensland.
"The Australian government wants to be a world leader when it comes to human rights, and if we want to do that we actually have to show moral leadership," commissioner Lorraine Finlay told AAP.
The visit by a delegation from the UN subcommittee on prevention of torture was the first to Australia since it ratified the Optional Protocol to the Convention Against Torture in 2017.
Under its mandate, the subcommittee can carry out unannounced visits to detention facilities and conduct private interviews with people deprived of their liberty without witnesses.
But the October visit was suspended after NSW and Queensland authorities blocked the UN inspectors from entering jails and detention facilities.
Australia joins Rwanda as the only other country where a visit has been cancelled.
"We made a promise to the world that we would comply with that treaty, and it's important we live up to our promises," Ms Finlay said.
It had been three months since the confidential UN report outlining what the international observers briefly saw was sent to the government, she said, which was enough time for action to have been taken.
"We think it's important that those aren't words said in Geneva (where the committee is based), but they're things that are delivered on in Australia," Ms Finlay said.
"The real test isn't whether you can talk about human rights, but putting those words into action."
The Attorney-General's Department said it is considering the committee's recommendations and continuing to work "transparently and co-operatively" with the states and territory governments to fulfil Australia's treaty obligations.
The government is expected to provide a response to the committee by December 19.
"Noting the shared responsibility for places of detention, the Commonwealth is consulting with states and territories in considering the subcommittee’s report, including on the matter of its release," a department spokesperson told AAP on Thursday.
The commissioner said the UN body was particularly concerned with immigration detention, the conditions of detention in prisons, and juvenile justice.
Ms Finlay said when it came to the detention of asylum seekers, Australia was an "absolute outlier" compared with other countries.
She said that in Canada the average stay in immigration detention was 16 days, compared with 711 days in Australia.
Ms Finlay also described an ongoing "national crisis in youth justice", particularly in Queensland where new laws allow children to be detained in police watch houses.
In a 34-page submission sent to the UN watchdog last week, the commission pointed the finger at NSW, Queensland and Victoria for failing to join other states in setting up independent oversight bodies, known as the National Preventive Mechanism, to monitor how detention facilities are run.
The department noted "significant progress has been made towards implementation in Australia with six out of nine jurisdictions" nominating a mechanism.
The commonwealth government continues to engage with the other three jurisdictions for them to nominate mechanism bodies as soon as possible, the department spokesperson said.
