The Western Australian government repeatedly broke the law by holding three young detainees for prolonged lockdowns inside the state’s only juvenile detention centre, the WA supreme court has ruled.
The supreme court on Tuesday found that three juveniles represented by the Aboriginal Legal Service WA were held unlawfully in the Banksia Hill detention centre and Unit 18, a separate wing at Casuarina men’s prison, for a total of 167 days between September and December 2022.
The judgment noted “systemic failure”, including staffing shortages, inadequate infrastructure and an “inability to manage detainees” with difficult behaviour.
The court ruled the Department of Justice had detained the teenage girl and two teenage boys for “prolonged periods – in effect, solitary confinement” – and breached the Young Offenders Act by not allowing sufficient time outside of their cells for exercise.
The court granted an injunction restraining staff from further confining the youths without appropriate orders, and without providing the exercise they are lawfully entitled to.
Justice Paul Tottle said the fact the minors were subjected to frequent solitary confinement was not only “inconsistent with objectives and principles” of the law but also “with basic notions of the humane treatment of young people”.
The ruling found prolonged lockdowns on already psychologically vulnerable young people had the ability to cause “immeasurable and lasting damage”.
The judgement noted the young detainees in their evidence said prolonged solitary confinement led to them self-harming or threatening suicide, including incidents which required treatment in hospital.
Tottle ruled that the department illegally confined the teenage girl for 12 days, while the two teenage boys were confined to their cells for 133 days and 22 days, respectively.
“The imposition of frequent periods of solitary confinement on young people evidences a systemic failure,” Tottle said. “The seriousness of the systemic failure is made manifest by the recognition that solitary confinement is an exceptional form of detention rarely sanctioned even in adult prisons.”
The judgement noted Department of Justice staffing concerns contributed to the lockdowns. Eighty-eight fulltime youth custodial officer positions were listed as vacant, with mandated shift breaks affecting capacity.
The Department of Justice’s deputy commissioner said the centre was looking to address the issues with staffing levels, improving infrastructure “and calming things down at Banksia Hill” including providing staff with “additional support and training”.
Wayne Nannup, the chief executive officer of Aboriginal Legal Service WA, labelled the ruling “extraordinary”.
Nannup said the Banksia Hill detention centre was in “crisis” and urged the state government to overhaul systemic issues at the centre.
“Nothing short of a drastic overhaul of the way things have been done will address the serious, systemic problems at these centres,” Nannup said.
“These children deserve to be treated with respect and dignity, not confined to their cells for long periods of isolation. They need fresh air, human connection, education and adults to mentor them.”
A spokesperson for the WA government said: “The Department of Justice has undertaken extensive work to address these issues, with updated practices to ensure any necessary confinement is within the law.
“Out-of-cell hours are maximised wherever there is the opportunity, noting the challenges staff face managing complex and often violent detainees.
“Significant infrastructure damage and regular critical incidents have impacted efforts to provide detainees with increased time out-of-cell.
“The state government’s more than $100m investment in infrastructure, services and staff is delivering promising early results, with increased out-of-cell hours achieved at Banksia Hill in recent times.”
• In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on freephone 116 123, or email jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie. In the US, you can call or text the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline on 988, chat on 988lifeline.org, or text HOME to 741741 to connect with a crisis counselor. Other international helplines can be found at befrienders.org
