NEW BANSKIA HILL PLAN DESCRIBED AS ‘WHITEWASHING’ BY ADVOCATE

BY ELIZA KLOSER

Megan Krakouer. Credit: Supplied.

The state government’s announcement of a new model of care for young people at Banksia Hill Youth Detention Centre has been called ‘whitewashing’ by a prominent suicide prevention advocate.

Following increasing calls from Aboriginal community leaders for major reform to the youth justice system, the government has appointed former Mental Health commissioner Tim Marney to implement the Department of Justice’s new model of care. 

Mr Marney said the focus will be on affecting longer-term changes to provide safety, care and support for the young people and staff at Banksia Hill.

For years, Indigenous leaders, lawyers, and medical services have been calling for First Nations people to be consulted on reform to Banksia Hill.

Mineng Noongar woman and Project Director of the National Suicide Prevention and Trauma Recovery Project Megan Krakouer said there had been no consultation with First Nations people regarding the new plan.

“I’m really happy that there is some kind of support that’s going to happen for the children, but there is no self-determining value because it’s being led by a non-Indigenous person,” she said.

“It's been led by too many ‘white angels’ for many years and is going back to colonisation, and we can say that there's no improvement. No differences being made at this point.

“It needs to be black-led, with a black focus, with the Aboriginal community part of this, because there are so many people out in the community that are not part of the solution.”

A recent report revealed Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children made up nearly 75 per cent of all children in the facility.

Ms Krakouer has previously worked at Banksia Hill and saw positive results through an Indigenous-led initiative.

She said the number of girls in detention was reduced from 18 to seven over the course of the initiative, and none of the girls returned to detention once they were released.

“We knew who their families where, we knew what the circumstances of their family were, because we've done a lot of work out in the community, so we're very much known,” she said.

“We did a lot of work in community after our support. There was intense social support, which was 24/7, that worked.

“That type of model needs to be adopted in that place, where they can help some of the most marginalised and vulnerable young people with coming out to stronger safety nets.”

Ms Krakouer has recently worked to collect testimony for a Federal Court class action against the state government involving hundreds of current and former Banksia Hill detainees.