The WA Supreme Court has found three youths were unlawfully locked in their cells at correctional facilities for a combined total of 167 days.

July 11, 2023

Three youths were unlawfully locked in their cells at Western Australia’s troubled youth detention centre and an adult prison for prolonged periods that amounted to solitary confinement, a court has found.

The juveniles were confined at Banksia Hill and Casuarina Prison’s Unit 18 in Perth for a combined total of 167 days amid a series of “rolling lockdowns”.

The Supreme Court on Tuesday 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 subjecting youths to frequent solitary confinement was inconsistent with the humane treatment of young people.

“It has the capacity to cause immeasurable and lasting damage to an already psychologically vulnerable group,” he said in a heavily redacted judgement released to the public.

Justice Tottle said young people were entitled to exercise outside of their sleeping quarters and it gives detainees relief from the “oppressive solitude of long hours of confinement”.

He said this was essential for the preservation of mental health.

Frequent solitary confinement was a systemic failure caused by a shortage of qualified staff, inadequate infrastructure and a consequent inability to manage detainees with difficult behavioural problems.

The Aboriginal Legal Service of WA brought the case to the court for the two young men and the young woman in December.

One of the trio was released from detention in February.

In August 2022, Justice Tottle found another teenager at Banksia Hill had been unlawfully locked in his cell for periods exceeding 20 hours on more than two dozen occasions.

The Aboriginal Legal Service has submitted more than 70 complaints about conditions at the detention centres since December 2021.

They relate to issues including lockdowns, excessive use of force, dirty and unhygienic cells, inadequate education, recreation, mental health support, medical treatment and access to legal advice, and inappropriate sexual conduct of staff.

Chief executive Wayne Nannup said Banksia Hill and Unit 18 were in crisis.

“Nothing short of a drastic overhaul of the way things have been done will address the serious, systemic problems at these centres,” he said in a statement.

The facilities must be managed in a trauma-informed, culturally safe way with an emphasis on detainees’ welfare and rehabilitation, he said.

“These children deserve to be treated with respect and dignity, not confined to their cells for long periods of isolation,” Mr Nannup said.

“They need fresh air, human connection, education and adults to mentor them.”

Detainees caused an estimated $30 million in damage when they escaped their cells and burned buildings during a riot at Banksia Hill in May.

An independent inspector subsequently found the facility was in a state of emergency due to unprecedented staff shortages and frequent lockdowns.

The Cook government has said it will bolster Banksia Hill’s staffing with adult prison officers while also appointing Aboriginal mediators and an Indigenous health provider to deliver culturally appropriate medical services.

In a statement on Tuesday evening, a government spokesman said the Department of Justice had undertaken extensive work to address issues and update practices “to ensure any necessary confinement is within the law”.

Under enhanced practices, any lockdown outside of the standard routine at the two youth detention facilities must be authorised by the superintendent or delegate.

“Out-of-cell hours are maximised wherever there is the opportunity, noting the challenges staff face managing complex and often violent detainees,” the spokesman said.

He said while infrastructure damage and regular critical incidents had impacted efforts to provide detainees with increased time out of their cells the state’s more than $100 million investment in infrastructure, services and staff was delivering promising early results at Banksia Hill.