Perth’s Banksia Hill youth detention centre is in a state of emergency with unprecedented staff shortages and frequent lockdowns leaving tensions at boiling point, an independent inspector has warned.
In a damning report publicly released on Thursday, Inspector of Custodial Services Eamon Ryan said detainees and demoralised staff at Western Australia’s only permanent juvenile detention centre were in acute crisis during a 10-day visit in February.
Bags of rubbish and soiled clothing were visible in cells and the centre was infested with rats.
Staff refused to work in one office, citing the smell of dead vermin in the ceiling.
Tweet from @10NewsFirstPER
Self-harm rates remained high, with locked-down detainees speaking of feeling trapped and depressed.
And the situation had only worsened, with a major riot 24 hours after the report was tabled in parliament last month.
Mr Ryan said his specialist inspection team had hoped to examine whether trauma-informed care was being provided to detainees.
“But what we found was an emergency,” he said.
“Every element of Banksia Hill was failing, often through no fault of its own or the efforts of staff.
“Ultimately, we saw young people, staff and a physical environment in acute crisis.”
Site-wide confinement orders were in place at Banksia Hill for all 10 days of the inspection, Mr Ryan said, meaning young people locked in cells for excessive lengths of time because of insufficient staffing.
Daily staff shortages were “unprecedented” and recruitment was struggling to keep pace.
And the transfer of some youths to Unit 18, a standalone facility opened last year at the maximum-security Casuarina adult prison, had failed to act as a circuit breaker.
Mr Ryan reiterated calls for the government to build a second, smaller youth detention centre for detainees with complex needs.
“The staff at Banksia Hill and Unit 18 are doing the best job they can in the most difficult of circumstances,” he said.
“Under the current staffing model, the only way to provide safety for young people when there are not enough staff is by being locked in cell.
“It is a self-perpetuating cycle because the young people’s isolation increases their anxieties, anger and frustration and sometimes they act out negatively to themselves and others.
“When staff respond to these incidents, this often leads to more and longer lockdowns.”
Mr Ryan described the May riots as an enormous setback.
Staff attrition was unsustainable given there had been 16 resignations by February, heavily impacting rehabilitation programs.
WA’s Department of Justice said 37 youth custodial officers had started work in late May and at least four additional training programs were expected to be held this year, providing up to 80 additional staff.
Efforts to implement a new model of care and address behaviour management and Aboriginal staffing were under way, director-general Adam Tomison said.
“There is a substantial amount of work still to do but we are confident the $90 million-plus investment in infrastructure, staff, services and a new crisis care unit will address many of these difficult issues,” he said.
The department supported eight out of the inspector’s 10 recommendations but said opening a second youth detention facility was a matter for government.
Several legal actions have been launched on behalf of youth detainees against the state government.
Fresh claims of mistreatment were highlighted last month in complaint letters written on behalf of detainees by the Aboriginal Legal Service of WA.
In the letters tabled in parliament, youths alleged they had been subjected to excessive force and ongoing lockdowns, forced to sleep in wet clothes or bedding and wear clothing stained in other people’s blood.
Reforming Banksia Hill looms as a top priority for newly sworn-in Premier Roger Cook and Corrective Services Minister Paul Papalia.
Opposition spokesman Peter Collier urged them to take a new approach or risk drastic consequences for detainees.
Lifeline 13 11 14
Kids Helpline 1800 55 1800 (for people aged 5 to 25)
-AAP
