Justice Reform Initiative Media Release, 2 September 2024

The Justice Reform Initiative is devastated by the news that a 17-year-old died inside Banksia Hill Detention Centre on Thursday and expresses deep condolences to the boy’s family and community, including other children who were detained with him.

Executive Director Dr Mindy Sotiri is calling on the WA Government to commit to a reasonable timeline to close the failing Unit 18 and Banksia Hill prisons, take a clear-eyed look at the multiple systems that are failing far too many young people, and commit immediately to real investment in transforming youth justice. 

“The WA Government must abandon the position of defending the state of youth justice in WA. Two children have now died, and many others are continuing to experience significant harm. We need to stop pretending that this system is in any way acceptable,” Dr Sotiri said.

The teenager was the second child to die of suicide in youth detention in WA in 10 months, after Cleveland Dodd, 16, died at Unit 18 in October. A report released in August by Commissioner for Young People Jacqueline McGowan-Jones found despite some improvements, “systemic problems” remained and “the diverse and complex needs of young people” at Banksia Hill were still not being met.

“This tragedy highlights once again how broken multiple systems are. It is entirely inadequate for our political leaders to take the position that there is no need for systems change because there have been some minor improvements in youth justice since the first child died in custody,” Dr Sotiri said.

“While we acknowledge the importance of addressing the circumstances in which children are imprisoned, we need to also look outside of the youth justice system to what could and should be available to children in the community. We need to invest in early intervention and prevention, supports for children and their families in their communities, alternative responder models, bail support, and First Nations led place-based approaches.

“And if we are going to imprison children, we need to dramatically shift our thinking in terms of what detention should look like and how it can better protect children, particularly those with diverse and complex needs.” 

Dr Soriti said Australia could learn from different models of youth justice internationally, such as the remarkably successful Diagrama centres in Spain.

“For decades, around Australia, the states and territories charged with the administration of youth justice have failed to keep children safe and failed to address the social drivers of children’s incarceration. Countless inquiries, reports, and media exposés into the state of youth justice in Australia have found that the rights of children in detention are not upheld,” she said.

“The evidence is very clear that contact with child justice systems entrenches and exacerbates disadvantage, causes ongoing harm and trauma, and in fact increases the likelihood of future criminal justice system contact.

“We need to act now to protect the children who are already involved with our youth justice system or detained at Banksia Hill — children who, according to more than a decade of evidence including recent condemnation by the Commissioner for Young People, are still at risk of experiencing significant and serious harm.”

“This means doing more than tinkering around the edges of a fundamentally failing system; it means committing to a timeline to close Banksia Hill and Unit 18 and taking a serious look at why children are there in the first place and what systems failed them along the way.”

Dr Sotiri urged the WA Government, along with the Federal Government, to show leadership by committing to system reform across multiple domains and investing further in evidence-based alternatives outside of the justice system.

“Both WA and Federal leaders need to stop passing the buck and genuinely commit to real change by working with, and appropriately resourcing community led alternatives including First Nations communities” she said.

“We cannot wait any longer for the change we so desperately need to keep all WA children and families safe.”

For more information and a list of patrons of the Justice Reform Initiative visit https://www.justicereforminitiative.org.au/.

Media contact:  Pia Akerman 0412 346 746

The Initiative respectfully acknowledges and supports the current and longstanding efforts of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to reduce the numbers of Indigenous people incarcerated in Australia and, importantly, the leadership role which Indigenous-led organisations continue to play on this issue. We also acknowledge the work of many other individuals and organisations seeking change, such as those focused on the rate of imprisonment for women, people with mental health issues, people with disability and others.