Five years on from the royal commission, a former teacher has condemned education conditions inside Don Dale

A former Don Dale teacher says he had mental health struggles after working at the detention centre. He revealed his experience on the five-year royal commission anniversary.

Children were given nothing but worksheets as chronic lockdowns at Don Dale Youth Detention Centre forced them to miss education classes, a former teacher has revealed.

The educator has spoken exclusively to the NT News about the “horrendous” conditions they say children and teachers were exposed to five years on from the Royal Commission into the Protection and Detention of Children in the NT.

The teacher, who asked to remain anonymous, said they had to leave the school after their mental health deteriorated because of poor leadership and conditions inside the old Berrimah jail.

“I wasn’t dealing with how I was feeling,” they said.

“I was sort of shutting down from my relationship with my partner.

“I didn’t want to speak about how my day was.”

The teacher who specialises in working with complex young people said for a school to be functional it needed to have a variety of services.

They said the teaching had to be tailored to the needs of each student.

The educator said there would be days when only worksheets would be given to kids because there were insufficient staff to let them out of their cells.

Furthermore, children with complex needs in H Block had almost no access to eduction in semester one 2022.

They said teachers were only able to visit that block a few times during the semester due to insufficient staffing ratios.

“So there are numerous young people in H block during my time there but they were always short staffed for youth justice officers in there so those young people were just constantly locked up,” the former teacher said.

“They are locked up and when you walk past them you can hear them.

“You can hear them crying out for help.

“You can hear the noise, fear, anxiety, stress … you can feel the pain and how they’re feeling inside.

“It is horrendous.”

The educator said the facility was dilapidated and children were kept in “cages” regardless of whether they were in their cells or in recreation spaces.

They said this happened despite escalating maintenance requests to centre executives.

“There was a water bubbler but it was possibly the worst stench that I’ve ever smelled because there was blocked pipe and everything else as well,” they said.

Reflecting on their time working inside the facility they said you could see rodent faeces throughout the buildings.

“Tivendale is not a school.

“I would say for a school to be working, especially a school that works with challenging young people … that there needs to be a lot of support.”

The teacher also tried to encourage classes outside or running on the oval bare-foot so kids could “feel country” but was repeatedly told by management the risk was too high.

“The only time they get an uninterrupted view of the sky is when they’re walking from their cells to the classrooms,” they said.

“Depending on where their cells are that is between 50 and 150 metres.”

The former education employee said that a new principal at the school had brought about some positive change.

But there was a need for holistic therapeutic interventions and training for everyone that worked at the facility.

In September, Territory Families, who are responsible for Territory detention centre’s operations released a therapeutic care model.

Almost half-a-decade after the royal commission recommended it.

Territory Families acting deputy chief executive Sasha Dennis said the model of care was “practical” and would sit alongside the new facility when it opened in 2024.

“This document sets out concrete, practical and achievable steps for us to improve the way we care for young people in detention,” Ms Dennis said.

“The changes will be noticeable from the moment a young person enters our care to well after they have returned to the community.”

When interviewed on Thursday, Territory Families Minister Kate Worden reiterated the NT Youth Justice system was reformed.

“Absolutely. I stand by that,” she said.

“There’s a lot of really, really good stuff turning around a lot of kids lives.”