Warning: This story carries the name of a deceased Indigenous person.
There have been significant improvements in the management of young people in detention, a new review has found, one week after a coroner said Casuarina’s notorious youth wing should close “as a matter of urgency”.
Coroner Philip Urquhart called for the justice department to be stripped of its role overseeing young people during the inquest into the death of Cleveland Dodd, who was found unresponsive inside a cell in Unit 18 in the early hours of October 12, 2023.
Cleveland Dodd’s mother Nadene Dodd and father Wayne Gentle.Credit: Aaron Bunch/AAP
The case will return to court in June for closing submissions ahead of the coroner’s final findings and recommendations.
In the second part of a youth custody review, following the first part conducted in 2023, the Office of the Inspector of Custodial Services said the Department of Justice had made considerable progress in stabilising the youth detention facilities since last year.
But it still found that Unit 18 should close, and a new facility be built in its place.
The review stated a new trauma-informed model of care had been rolled out and was having a positive impact on detainees.
And a renewed focus on recruitment had led to a lift in youth custodial staff levels, culminating in young people spending more time out of cell participating in education, programs and recreation.
The review also noted improvements in culturally safe and secure practices, educational outcomes, health services, and voluntary programs and activities for detainees, and the establishment of an Aboriginal Services Unit to provide cultural support to detainees.
“These green shoots are beginning to produce better outcomes for young people in custody,” the review said.
Inspector of Custodial Services Eamon Ryan said although the follow-up report was promising, “we have also seen since our last inspection, the very lowest and most tragic point for Youth Custodial Services with two young men tragically taking their lives.”
“We all must accept some level of responsibility for these outcomes, myself included. I have constantly asked myself if we could have done more or advocated harder for change,” he said.
“But what is absolutely clear is that we must not let these devastating events be repeated. Urgent, meaningful, and enduring reform to the youth justice system must occur and every Western Australian has a responsibility to ensure this happens.”
Premier Roger Cook said when he had started in the job, over 100 young people were in Banksia Hill.
“Today, we have just over 60, an important part of acknowledging that we now have a whole range of measures in place,” he said.
“We’ll continue to do more. We know that there’s more that we need to do in juvenile justice, but I’m very pleased that the Office of the Inspector of Custodial Services has now acknowledged that we are making progress.”
Youth detention expert and family advocate Gerry Georgatos said they still had a “long way to go” and that “self-harms and long cell hours continue.”
“The majority of children in Banksia on becoming adults finish up in adult prisons,” he said.
“You can’t change the lives of troubled children without the bedrock of humaneness. Banksia is a holding pen, it is cells, not communal, psychosocial or friendly.
“Unit 18 must close now – $100 million must not be spent on a new facility to corral children. The aim should be the abolition of cells and the establishment of bedrooms.”
Department director general Kylie Maj said they were deeply saddened by Cleveland’s death, and that of another young person at Banksia Hill in August 2024, and awaited final recommendations from the inquest, which return to court in June for closing statements.
“There have been significant achievements in how the department manages vulnerable and at-risk young people, which OICS has acknowledged,” she said.
“We are committed to delivering culturally responsive, therapeutic and trauma-informed care, as well as education and other opportunities, to the young people in Banksia Hill and Unit 18.”
Plans for the construction of a new crisis care unit at Banksia Hill are also in the works.
Corrective Services Commissioner Brad Royce said the more than 100 new youth custodial officers appointed in 2024 had helped stabilise the workforce.
“Rebuilding the youth custodial workforce has meant less time confined in a cell and greater access to a variety of much-needed support services for young people,” he said.
13YARN 13 92 76
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Kids Helpline 1800 55 1800 (for people aged 5 to 25)
beyondblue 1300 22 4636
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