‘Folded up’ in Banksia Hill, then released with no support. Where to from here?

Names in this report have been changed for legal reasons.

A Perth mother says that a year after her teenage son made national headlines being hog-tied in West Australian youth detention, his mental health is deteriorating and she fears for his safety.

Last November, CCTV footage of Steve*, then 14, being restrained in a method known as “folding up” was featured in a Four Corners investigation into Banksia Hill, where the incident occurred, and WA’s youth detention system.

Vision from inside Banksia Hill Detention Centre where officers use a technique known as ‘folding up’ to restrain a detainee shocked viewers.Credit: Four Corners/ABC

The episode resulted in a ban on the technique, but Steve’s mother said he was stuck in a cycle of offending and self-harm.

The now-15-year-old has ended up back behind bars several times in the past year, including in Banksia Hill’s Unit 18 satellite facility at the Casuarina maximum security men’s prison.

Steve was in Unit 18 when fellow detainee 16-year-old Cleveland Dodd was rushed to the hospital on October 12 after self-harming. Dodd died a week later.

Steve himself has attempted suicide in Unit 18 in the past, and self-harmed as recently as last week.

Anna has chosen to speak out for the first time since Cleveland’s death shook the state, in fear that she will receive the same call his family did.

“He’s gotten much angrier ... I’m stepping on eggshells when my son is home,” she said.

“I’ve lost my son in some ways, from [him] being in there.”

She said she had feared for his life since he was moved to Unit 18 because it was “a man’s world”.

“I’m scared for their safety; scared for their lives, actually,” she said.

“Everything is getting worse and worse by the day. Each day there is something worse.”

There were 21 attempted suicides in Unit 18 from July 2022 to November this year, it was revealed last week in an estimates committee hearing with Department of Justice bureaucrats.

This November so far there has been one instance of serious self-harm and 10 of self-harm.

Detainees are confined to their cells up to 19 hours a day, an improvement on previous months.

Anna said during calls with Steve, she could sometimes hear other detainees banging on their doors to speak to guards just for something to do.

She referenced Children’s Court President Hylton Quail’s stinging assessment last February of continued lockdowns at Banksia Hill.

“It is right, what that chap said; you lock them up … you turn them into monsters,” Anna said.

Anna is desperate for the state government to better rehabilitate the detainees and better support them on release.

Corrective Services Minister Paul Papalia referred to answers from the Department of Justice which said every effort was made to provide services to all detainees who often had complex and troubled backgrounds.

“The focus is to provide a level of stability and maximising time out of cell, education, recreation and engagement,” a spokeswoman said.

“Services include mental health and medical supports, psychologists, Aboriginal youth support officers, education staff, case planning and external contracted support programs.”

The spokeswoman said the department was in regular contact with families, who can raise their concerns with the department or avenues such as the Ombudsman.

At the estimates committee, Deputy Corrective Services Commissioner Christine Ginbey said Unit 18 detainees had televisions and gaming consoles to keep them occupied and detainees could have conversations with each other.

She also revealed that out-of-cell hours at Unit 18 had improved in the weeks since Cleveland’s death and had reached above five hours.

Crisis support is available from Lifeline on 13 11 14. For 24/7 crisis support run by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, contact 13YARN (13 92 76).

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