# Indigenous woman shackled during labour in Queensland > An incarcerated Aboriginal woman was restrained to a hospital bed while giving birth, days after parliament blocked a bill to ban the practice. - Title: Indigenous woman shackled during labour in Queensland - Summary: An incarcerated Aboriginal woman was restrained to a hospital bed while giving birth, days after parliament blocked a bill to ban the practice. An Indigenous… - Keywords: indigenous australians, incarceration, childbirth, queensland, sisters inside, lidia thorpe, shackling, human rights, australian parliament, news, politics, Indigenous - Source: the Guardian — https://theguardian.com/australia-news/2026/oct/18/indigenous-woman-shackled-during-labour-childbirth-queensland-ntwnfb - Published: 2026-10-18T03:59:02+00:00 - Read time: 1 min - Topics: indigenous australians, incarceration, childbirth, queensland, sisters inside, lidia thorpe, shackling, human rights, australian parliament, news, politics ## Woman shackled during labour An incarcerated Indigenous woman was shackled to a hospital bed in Queensland while in labour last weekend, according to advocacy group Sisters Inside. ## Timing of the incident The birth happened just days before Labor and the Coalition blocked a bill to ban the barbaric practice of shackling incarcerated women during childbirth. ## Hospital staff's response Debbie Kilroy, chief executive of Sisters Inside, said the woman gave birth via caesarean section to a premature baby and was shackled on and off since arriving. > shackled on and off since she came into the hospital ## Staff tried to remove shackles Hospital staff rang Sisters Inside after trying everything to get the shackles removed. They were even crying because prison staff would not remove them. > They were even crying because prison staff wouldn't remove the shackles. ## Lidia Thorpe's bill and argument Independent senator Lidia Thorpe, a Gunnai, Gunditjmara and Djab Wurrung woman, introduced bills to ban shackling and stop children being strip-searched this week. ## Parliament blocks the ban Labor said criminal justice is a matter for states and territories. The Coalition said it understood the intent but would not support the bill's passage. ## Key takeaway An Indigenous woman was shackled to a hospital bed during labour in Queensland while Labor and the Coalition blocked a bill to ban the practice.