Children’s blood ‘smeared’ on the walls of Don Dale as report finds lack of official visits

Children’s blood has splattered the walls of the most notorious youth justice centre, as calls are made for the NT government to be ‘held accountable’. WARNING: Graphic

BLOOD smeared on the walls, graffiti covering cells and children placed ‘at risk’ while in the care of Territory Families.

This is what confronts visitors when they enter Don Dale, a formerly condemned high security wing of the adult Berrimah prison currently used to imprison young offenders.

“One room within the … sector has been smeared with blood,” an official visitor wrote after an inspection in September 2021.

Documents released under Freedom of Information show Territory Families failed to meet its own legislative protections, put in place after the 2017 Don Dale Royal Commission.

The Offical Visitors program is supposed to run twice monthly in Alice and Darwin detention facilities and provide independent oversight.

Under recommendatoins from the royal commission the program was to become a function of the redeveloped NT Children’s Commission however it continues be faciliated by Territory Families, the department it reports on.

It is one of five oversight programs that includes Children Commission visits, Elders Visitation Program, volunteer organisations, legal and community services.

DON DALE ON THE FEDERAL AGENDA

The federal Attorney-General’s office has confirmed Don Dale was raised at a meeting of the state and territory attorneys-general on August 12.

“The Australian Government will continue to work with the Northern Territory and the states to improve the care of children in detention,” a spokesman said.

National Children’s Commissioner Anne Hollonds has called for the Territory government to “be held accountable” for their commitments five years on from the Royal Commission.

“There are many, many failures of those commitments,” Ms Hollonds told ABC RN on Thursday.

“They need to really look at why they are systems that fail to find alternatives.

“This is not about building better and newer, more state of the art detention centres.

“This is about reforming the systems that are found that lead to kids going into child protection systems.”

The number of children in Territory detention has tripled since 2020, while at-risk incidents have increased by 400 per cent in Don Dale.

A growing majority of the children have not been convicted for their alleged offences, largely because of changes to the Youth Bail Act in 2021.

Ms Hollonds said in a recent visit to Don Dale she met a primary schooler who was in jail for allegedly stealing food.

“I went up there a few weeks ago, there was a 10 and 12-year-old in for their first offence of stealing food,” she said.

“Now that seems to me that they don’t seem to have any alternatives.

“These kids are being put in there because there’s nowhere else for them to go.

“They need to work out what else they can do to safely manage and care for these children.”

THE OFFICIAL VISITORS REPORT

It comes in the wake of Territory Families releasing a graphic Official Visitor report from two inspections in September 2021.

The observer wrote in her report she was told there were not enough staff to supervise “at-risk” children who may pose a risk themselves, other kids or staff.

She said there were 32 children at Don Dale during her visit, three of whom were classified as “at-risk”.

She said one of these children had “smeared” the walls with blood that day.

“I was also advised by the same YJO that the walls had not been cleaned because there were not enough staff to maintain the level of staff supervision necessary for the ‘at risk’ area atop of cleaning the walls within the room,” she wrote in her official report.

“Such prior mentioned incidences solidify the complex behavioural and emotional issues experienced by youth in detention.”

Territory Families Minister Kate Worden wrote to the official visitor, saying a full biological clean of the room was completed.

Ms Worden said the child was being “managed” following the at-risk incident, but confirmed a mental health assessment occurred on September 3, a full day after they smeared blood on the walls.

In her visit to the Alice Springs centre, the same observer highlighted there was no appointed psychologist, despite children having been taken to Alice Springs Hospital.

“The ‘at-risk’ room within the female sector is presently being utilised as a storage area,” she wrote.

“It is vital that the ‘at-risk’ room always remain free from obstruction and kept clean.”

Territory Families chief executive Ken Davies told Ms Worden in a ministerial briefing on October 28 the Alice Springs ‘at-risk’ policy was under review.

“The at-risk policy is currently being redesigned to alleviate unnecessary trips to the Alice Springs Hospital,” Mr Davies said.

A NEW THERAPEUTIC MODEL OF CARE

Ms Worden confirmed a new therapeutic model of care was being rolled out “progressively” across the two centres.

“This new model of care has been co-designed with advocates, families, stakeholders and service providers to inform the way we support young people,” she said.

The NT News has repeatedly asked for a copy of the new therapeutic model of care and the feedback provided in the development of the program.

The official visitor report has also highlighted an alarming lack of independent observers gaining access to the troubled facilities.

Despite the Royal Commission highlighting the official visitor program was “compromised by the infrequency of visits by individual visitors” five years ago, Territory Families has confirmed only two visits occurred over 13 months.

Territory Families policy requires a visit to each centre at least once a month, meaning there should have been at least 26 visits over this time.

A ministerial briefing to Ms Worden said the sole active official visitor was not able to visit in March and April due to her “instrumentation” expiring.

When she was finally able to visit, the Alice Springs-based observer had to cut their trip into Don Dale short after spending less than two and a half hours with the children.

From May 1, 2021 to June 10, 2022, there was only one Official Visitor - they went to Don Dale on September 2 and Alice Springs Youth Justice Centre on September 14, 2021.

A Territory Families spokesman said Covid was behind the low official visitor numbers but added recruitment was needed to bolster official visitor program numbers.

The spokesman said there had been few responses to a call out for volunteers in May 2022, with the department “actively pursuing other responsible persons to apply”.

Despite missing the legislated targets for more than a year, Ms Worden said the official visitor program was “of great value to the department”.

“Recruitment to these positions has had its challenges, particularly since Covid-19 restrictions were introduced,” Ms Worden said.

“The gaps in the program have stemmed from a complex mix of Covid-19 conditions and recruitment difficulties.

“Recruitment to these roles remains ongoing.

“I have insisted that these be addressed and am informed that all necessary visits have been completed in July and August.”

Ms Worden said the visitor program was “only one of a very comprehensive suite of independent access and monitoring visits”.

The Office of the Children’s Commissioner made 35 visits to both Don Dale and the Alice Springs Youth Justice Centre between April 2021 and June 2022.

Ms Worden said the youth justice system of today was a “far cry” from the 2016 system which provoked the Don Dale Royal Commission.

“We are the Government who is closing Don Dale and building a new fit-for-purpose youth detention facility,” she said.

Territory Families said since July 2022 there had been three visits between the two centres, with another set for next week.

In a single weekend in July, four children were taken from Don Dale to the Royal Darwin Hospital because of ‘at-risk’ incidents, including a 16-year-old boy who stabbed himself and removed his own stitches.

Generic Don Dale

NATIONAL CALLS FOR REFORM

The Justice Reform Initiative has described Australia’s youth justice system as a “total failure”, with children as young as 10 exposed to a failing cycle of recidivism.

Executive director Mindy Sotiri said the “crisis” in youth justice reflected a long-term funding failure to support services, programs and supports outside of prisons and genuine alternatives to custody for at-risk children.

Dr Sotiri said federal support was needed in the Northern Territory.

“Without a significant injection of Australian Government resources the NT government simply does not have the resources to adequately fund the alternatives to incarceration for these kids,” she said.

“We will look back at this time, at the way we incarcerate and punish children, in places like Ashley, Don Dale and Banksia Hill, and be absolutely horrified as a community.

“It costs over half a million dollars each year to keep a child in prison. Imagine if we invested that money in programs that actually work to build safer communities.”

“We know there is evidence about how to do this but what we are missing is political will.”

Originally published as Children’s blood ‘smeared’ on the walls of Don Dale as report finds lack of official visits