The WA Government says moving “violent young offenders” from Western Australia’s only youth detention center to a separate unit in an adult prison has “worked”.
Key points:
- The government says Banksia Hill is doing well after the handover
- Figures show there has been a dramatic increase in self-harm at the facility
- A former president of the children’s court has spoken about the conditions of the center
The comments follow widespread criticism of the conditions in which children are held, both at the existing detention center at Banksia Hill and at an ad hoc facility set up in a section of Casuarina, one of the state’s maximum security male prisons .
Last month, the Department of Justice moved 17 children, including a 14-year-old, to the Casuarina unit, called “Unit 18.”
His hands and ankles were reportedly shackled during the transfer.
The young offenders were taken to Casuarina Prison after damaging cells at Banksia Hill Detention Centre. (Provided by: Department of Justice)
The department said the move was prompted by extensive damage to the cells at Banksia Hill and that detainees had to be relocated so the cells could be repaired.
Autoham reports appear after transfer
There have been subsequent reports of four of these children being taken to hospital after attempting self-harm.
Western Australia has reported that four children were injured by shards of broken glass, which the ABC could not immediately verify.
The Department of Justice declined to provide figures on the number of children in Unit 18 who had self-harmed or attempted suicide since they were moved there on June 20.
The department said there were now 16 children in Unit 18.
Corrective Services Minister Bill Johnston said he would not comment on individual cases, but added the “good news” was that Banksia Hill was doing well.
“Although we still have this difficult cohort to manage in Unit 18, for the majority of young offenders who are in Banksia Hill, they are now in a much better environment,” he said.
“It wasn’t working to have these young offenders causing violence at Banksia Hill, and for the other kids who weren’t violent, not acting out, not getting the services they needed because the facility was constantly locked down.”
Improvements in behavior after movement
He said there had been no significant disturbance at Banksia Hill since he moved those children on July 20.
And the minister said some of the young offenders in Unit 18 were starting to improve their behaviour.
“Now, it doesn’t stand and I’m not going to comment on individual cases, but because we’re confident that these young offenders can be reintegrated into Banksia Hill, we’ll continue to bring them back,” he said.
But he admitted the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) at Banksia Hill was not “fit for purpose”.
The head of Perth Children’s Court described Banskia Hill as a “dehumanizing” environment. (Supplied)
“We know we need to improve ISU to have a more therapeutic environment,” he said.
“We have violent and disruptive criminals at ISU right now, this is completely unacceptable.”
He said a new unit would be built at Banksia Hill to provide a more therapeutic environment.
According to figures provided to WA Parliament during Budget Estimates, the average number of hours Banksia Hill children spent out of their cells each day was 9.37 in 2020-21, falling to 7.6 hours in 2021-2022.
The exercise yard at Banksia Hill has been compared to a cage. (Supplied)
Self-harm is on the rise in Banksia
There has been a dramatic increase in suicide attempts and incidents of self-harm in the last three years.
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There were two recorded suicide attempts, one of which was serious, and 105 incidents of minor self-harm in Banksia Hill in 2020.
This compares with 31 suicide attempts, six of them serious, and 314 incidents of minor self-harm in 2021.
In 2022, on June 20 there had already been 20 suicide attempts and 285 incidents of self-harm.
WA’s longest-serving president of the Children’s Court, retired judge Denis Reynolds, has told the ABC the transfer of children to a Casuarina unit represented a “broken” system.
He said the court had lost faith in the state’s justice system.
The judge says the figures are probably the tip of the iceberg
The former judge said the 20 suicide attempts this year were probably just the tip of the iceberg.
“We also need to look at those children who have also returned to the community,” he told ABC Perth.
“Many of them turned 18 and later committed suicide in the community, or perhaps in an adult correctional facility.”
It is believed that more than 100 young lives of former Banksia Hill detainees had been lost to suicide in the community over the past two decades.
The WA Government has committed $7.5 million to build a crisis care unit at Banksia Hill and an additional $2.6 million will be spent on fencing and “hardening works” for the Jasper unit in Banksia.
A further $3.5 million will be spent to prevent children from climbing onto the roofs of the facility and a further $2.5 million will be spent on improving the CCTV system.
The department told Parliament that it had recently developed a new operating philosophy for Banksia Hill that would place greater emphasis on rehabilitation and therapeutic models.
Recidivism rates for young offenders have been on a downward trend since 2017-2018, from 58.7% of offenders to 49.2% in 2021-22.