Experts say self-harm and suicide attempts in Don Dale call for urgent action

Top End experts have said it is only a matter of time before a child will die by suicide inside Don Dale Youth Detention Centre. Read the exclusive story here.

UPDATE 5PM, MON: TOP END experts have said it is only a matter of time before a child will die by suicide inside Don Dale Youth Detention Centre.

Following the NT News’ exclusive report on self-harm and attempted suicide rates inside Don Dale, Northern Australian Aboriginal Justice Agency (NAAJA) chief executive Priscilla Atkins said the situation was urgent.

“There is a high risk … and it is happening right now. The number of young kids with suicidal thoughts and suicide attempts, has just tripled,” Ms Atkins said.

Ms Atkins said organisations had called for changes to youth detention for more than 20 years.

“What was the point of a Royal Commission if you have a government that backflips on its decisions,” she said.

Supplied Editorial NAAJA CEO Priscilla Atkins

“We can’t keep talking about it; (change) needs to happen now. The government needs to step up and make the changes it agreed to, it needs to raise the age of criminal responsibility and remove mandatory sentencing.”

The impact of Labor’s bail laws have also led to an increase in NAAJA’s workload and a strain across the youth justice system.

“What now happens is a kid breaks bail because they forget to charge their electronic monitoring device, so police pick them up, call it a serious breach of bail and send them to Don Dale,” she said.

According to NAAJA data a number of children in Don Dale are remanded longer than they are sentenced, if they are ever sentenced at all.

Ms Atkins has said there are many ways to create a ‘safe community’ without being ‘tough on crime’ and locking kids up.

Danila Dilba Health Service, who provides the medical care inside Don Dale, has said it is deeply concerned about the increased rates of self-harm and at-risk incidents in youth detention.

“(We) are concerned that without urgent intervention, this pressure cooker environment will only get worse,” the statement said.

“The influx of children entering detention, which has increased since the youth bail laws in 2021, has placed enormous strain on facility resources and staff capacity which was limited to begin with.”

The statement said the increased pressure was having “disastrous impact on young people’s mental health” and called for a number of solutions to reduce incarceration of Aboriginal children.

“It is well-known that detention does not result in reduced crime and a safer community. Even short periods of detention have a significant and lasting effect on the social and emotional wellbeing of children and on their behaviour after release from detention.”

“We are working to respond to this through the provision of therapy and health services for children in detention, however it is abundantly clear that Don Dale is not a suitable place to house children and young people. Don Dale is a decommissioned adult prison that was deemed ‘not fit for purpose’ for adult habitation.”

The recommendations echoed the Royal Commissions, and several calls from Territory and national peak bodies, including increasing funding to Aboriginal community Controlled Organisations, to improve therapeutic diversion programs including On-Country and healing programs. It also called for investment in evidence-based alternatives to detention and full implementation of the Royal Commission recommendations.

The Close Don Dale Now Movement has called the self harm revelations “the last straw” and urged for the centre to be closed.

“This is horribly cruel. It is also reckless, negligent, and criminal,” a statement said.

“Still this NT Labor Government continues their policy of remanding and detaining children, some as young as 10 and 11, in this adult prison.”

A grandmother of one of the children who spent three weeks inside the centre pressured for change.

“Do we really have to wait until the unthinkable happens before this Government will do the right thing?,” she asked.

INITIAL 6AM MON: CHILDREN self-harming is on the rise inside the Northern Territory’s Don Dale Youth Detention Centre.

Territory Families statistics, exclusive to the NT News, showed children had 54 episodes of self-harm or suicide while inside Don Dale from July to December 2021, compared to eight from the same period in 2020.

The NT News also understands there have been numerous serious attempted suicides in recent months.

Productivity Commission data released in January showed numbers climbed to similar rates, as reported during the royal commission in 2016. The same data also revealed in the past two years 15 children required hospitalisation after serious self-harm or suicide attempts, all being Indigenous.

MEDICAL RESPONSES:

Paediatrician Nick Fancourt, who works with children in Don Dale, said the figures were reflective of a “failing system”.

Dr Fancourt not only confirmed self-harm rates had increased but the severity of episodes meant medical teams dealt with “crisis after crisis”.

“There is an overwhelming, serious component of deteriorating mental health and suicide attempts, that are unequivocal,” he said.

The NT News asked Territory Families Minister Kate Worden if she was aware of serious suicide attempts requiring hospitalisation and the increased self-harm rates, but she declined to comment on those specific questions.

She provided a statement reading: “Our detention system was constantly evolving.”

According to Dr Fancourt, there were compounding factors that contributed to children’s deteriorating mental health.

In December the Office of the Children’s Commission (OCC) said Don Dale lacked a therapeutic framework to guide operations. It also said staff shortages, exacerbated by significant increases in children entering detention, had impacted access to basic services including medical and education.

“The OCC explains the gaps well … In terms of being able to follow up on some of the long-term health and disability needs of the kids, all that time gets eaten away. (We) are dealing with crisis after crisis,” Dr Fancourt said.

The OCC report also highlighted concerns about increased rates of self-harm inside Don Dale.

“The management of young people deemed at risk of self-harm in DDYDC is an ongoing concern (for the OCC), with some young people left in their cells for up to 23 hours and 45 minutes per day while waiting for medical assessment,” a report said.

Dr Fancourt said a therapeutic model of care was needed for children who have “complex neurological, trauma and disability needs”.

“The evidence is very clear. Youth detention does not work, diversion does,” he said.

Those who need support can access 24/7 help through Lifeline on 13 11 14.

INCARCERATION RATES AND GOVERNMENT RESPONSE:

RATES of juvenile detention have skyrocketed in the latter half of 2021, according to data provided exclusively to the NT News.

Last year 199 children were either remanded or sentenced to Don Dale Youth Detention Centre in just six months – up from 64 kids during the same period in 2020. The increase coincides with Labor’s bail reforms in May 2021.

Territory Families, Community and Housing Minister Kate Worden said the government had worked hard to ensure youth justice reform.

“The reforms build on this government’s vision of a youth justice system that contributes to community safety and reduces reoffending by young people,” she said.

“Investment in youth justice programs has grown from $22m in 2016-17 to $68.8m in 2020-21.”

Danila Dilba Rob McPhee with Federal Senator Anne Ruston and Minister for Families Kate Worden. Picture: (A)manda Parkinson

However, statistics in the Productivity Commission showed the Territory spends an average of $6247 per child, per day on youth detention, in comparison to just $1316 on community supervision per child.

Ms Worden said the department was “leading the sector” to develop a therapeutic care model.

“We are investing $229m over five years to reform and improve services for children and families experiencing vulnerability,” she said.

Ms Worden said the investment included replacing Don Dale, renovations to Alice Springs Youth Detention Centre and spending $60m to create a new reporting system.

Last week, Attorney-General Selena Uibo said policy was been developed in NT and nationally to support raising the age of criminal responsibility.

“In order for this law reform to be effective, services to cater for at-risk children below the age of criminal responsibility must first be established. Work is underway to make this a reality,” she said.

Four years on from the Royal Commission into Protection and Youth Detention in the NT, more than 60 recommendations remain incomplete.