Two thirds of children held in Queensland watch houses in 2018 were indigenous, shows Freedom of Information data obtained by Amnesty International.
18-10-year olds were detained in police custody in 2018.
On average, non-Indigenous children were detained in watch houses for 19 hours while Indigenous children were detained for 28 hours.
Tammy Solonec, the Indigenous rights manager at Amnesty, said the Queensland government must explain why Indigenous children were less likely to be placed in alternative.