LABOR MP SAYS CHANGE COMING ON YOUTH JUSTICE AS DAMNING BANKSIA HILL REPORT RELEASED
BY GERARD MAZZA
An image from the new report on Banksia Hill by the Inspector of Custodial Services shows a damaged door on an out-of-order cell with rubbished piled up on the outside. Credit: Supplied.
Western Australia’s state government has indicated it plans to make reforms to the youth justice system, as advocates continue to call for change.
Pilbara Labor MP Kevin Michel told Ngaarda Media the state government is working on changes.
“There is something in the program at the moment we are working on,” he said.
Earlier this week, new Premier Roger Cook appointed Paul Papalia as Corrective Services Minister, making him responsible for the crisis-plagued Banksia Hill Youth Detention Centre.
“This is a priority for me and I’ve made it clear to Minister Papalia that it’s a priority for him,” Premier Cook told The West Australian.
Mr Michel said: “Once Paul starts taking over the reins, he will start implementing things.”
“One of the things we are very conscious about and have been advocating for is … for judges to make decisions on behalf of Aboriginal people through Aboriginal people.
“So Elders coming in there, making kids understand where they come from, and rather than sending them to jail as the first port of call, to send them to some kind of consultation, rehabilitation or something like that.”
Nyungar-Nyiyaparli-Yamatji advocate and Curtin University legal academic Emma Garlett said she was “very happy” there had been a change of political leadership on the issue.
“There really needs to a therapeutic approach taken for young people,” she said.
“The last place they need to end up is in Banskia Hill. They need to stay with their families and they need to stay with communities, and there needs to be a lot of diversion programs happen as well.”
Yesterday, WA’s Inspector of Custodial Services Eamon Ryan released a damning report on conditions inside Banksia Hill.
Mr Ryan prepared the report after he and his team spent 10 days inside WA’s two dedicated youth detention facilities, Banksia Hill and Unit 18 housed within Casuarina adult prison.
The report describes frequent lockdowns, self-harm incidents, staff shortages and damaged facilities.
Mr Ryan said he and his team “saw young people, staff and a physical environment in acute crisis.”
The report found the prison had struggled to recruit staff and the number of people quitting was unusually high.
An image from the new report on Banksia Hill by the Inspector of Custodial Services shows a smashed glass door at the facility.
“The help these young people need and the effective rehabilitation they require are exactly the types of interventions (education, programs, recreation, training, family reconnection and general health and mental health) that have been most heavily impacted by staffing shortages and increased lockdowns,” Mr Ryan said.
The report made a series of recommendations, including that a second youth custodial facility be built and constructed “that meets the complex needs of different cohorts of young people.”
Ms Garlett agreed a second facility for youth on remand would help.
“Western Australia used to have a remand centre, but then they stopped that, and now we don’t,” she said.
“It’s important; it needs to happen. I think that’s a great recommendation.”