A Victorian child being held in an adult prison was placed in a spit hood while spending months confined to his cell for up to 23 hours a day, the state’s children’s commissioner has revealed.
According to the state’s Commission for Children and Young People’s (CCYP) annual report, tabled in parliament on Wednesday, the child was kept in “effective isolation” for 24 weeks out of eight months.
In February, the child contacted the commission to report that prison officers had used a spit hood on him that day. The commission launched an inquiry after the report.
After the spit hood incident, the prison turned off water in the child’s cell for about 22 hours, leaving him unable to wash his hands or use the toilet facilities or brush his teeth, the CCYP report said. This was despite him requesting staff to return his access to water.
Guardian Australia understands the child remains in an adult prison.
Victoria’s principal commissioner for children and young people, Liana Buchanan, said she was “shocked” by this incident.
“I almost couldn’t believe it,” she told Guardian Australia.
“We like to think in Victoria that we avoid the very worst abuses of children in custody, that sometimes unfortunately we see in other parts of the country. This case unfortunately showed me that is not true.”
Latoya Aroha Rule from the national Ban Spit Hoods Coalition, which is made up of legal, Indigenous and human rights organisations, said it was “sickened” to hear another child “had been hooded.”
“This incident amounts to punishment, as we know the child had no history of spitting,” she said.
“We continue to call upon Victoria, and indeed all Australian states and territories, to legislate the ban on spit hoods once and for all.”
The case has reiterated calls by the CCYP for Victoria to ban the detention of children in adult prisons.
Corrections Victoria has changed its policy to prohibit the use of spit hoods on children in adult custody since the incident occurred in February.
Buchanan said the Victorian government should have already banned detaining children in adult prisons. Youth justice custodial settings do not have, or use, spit hoods.
The commission said it had repeatedly advised the Victorian government that spit hoods should not be used on children.
“Having a spit hood applied would be terrifying, it would be shocking. It really is a type of treatment this state should not envisage applying to a child,” Buchanan said.
The inquiry into the incident revealed prison officers applied the spit hood despite the boy not having been involved in spitting incidents and without consideration of the Corrections Victoria regulations, the report said.
The regulations enabled a spit hood to be used on a prisoner under the age of 18, but required consideration of the prisoner’s age, their best interests and vulnerability.
For 20 weeks, the boy had no contact with other prisoners and was confined to his cell for up to 23 hours a day with no access to education, according to the CCYP. For another four weeks, he was regularly placed on an “individual plan” designed to manage his behaviour, spending up to 23 hours a day in his cell.
Prison officers applied the restrained device eight months after the child entered the adult prison, the commission said.
The day before the spit hood was applied, the boy was involved in a “series of incidents” and staff moved him to another cell using authorised force, the report said.
The inquiry found he had an “unsettled” time in the adult prison and displayed threatening and dangerous behaviour during a number of incidents.
A spit hood is a mesh bag placed over a detainee’s heads to stop them spitting or biting. It is designed to prevent injury or infection to guards.
In 2021, South Australia became the first Australian jurisdiction to implement a legislative ban on the use of spit hoods.
During the inquiry, Corrections Victoria confirmed its policy would be changed to prohibit the use of spit hoods on children in adult custody – as recommended by the commission. Buchanan said a ban against using spit hoods on children should be enshrined in legislation.
The commission’s annual report also revealed lockdowns in Victoria’s youth justice centres almost doubled in the past year, despite a reduction in the number of children and young people in custody.
Notifications of alleged child abuse and misconducted by Victorian workers and volunteers increased by almost 20% over the past year. Physical violence accounted for more than a third of allegations.
