WA Law Society demands urgent action from Premier on youth detention after second death in custody
The Law Society of Western Australia has written an urgent letter to the WA government, demanding an independent review of the state’s entire youth justice system, after the deaths in custody of two teenagers within less than one year.
In the letter, sent to Premier Roger Cook and Corrective Services Minister Paul Papalia last Tuesday and made public this morning, the Law Society said it held grave concerns for the system.
Law Society President Paula Wilkinson said on Wednesday it was not the first letter written by the organisation to the government on juvenile detention issues.
“The Supreme and Children’s courts have found repeatedly, over the last two years, that Corrective Services has acted unlawfully in the way it manages children in detention,” Ms Wilkinson said.
“The Law Society has made repeated calls to government to review and fix the system, but it seems to be falling on deaf ears.”
In its letter, the Law Society also called for a “road map” to youth justice reforms, which it said should be informed by existing and ongoing consultation with youth justice experts.
“We want the government to consult people with lived custodial experience and advocacy groups representing children in detention,” Ms Wilkinson said.
The letter also reiterated the Law Society’s call for the Department of Justice to speed up the process of removing, or at least minimising, ligature points in all prison cells across WA, with priority given to those centres which hold juveniles. The process was a recommendation of the 1991 final report of the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in custody.
“We have also called, again, for the immediate closure of Casuarina’s Unit 18, which the legal profession says fails to comply with documented United Nations’ standards on the rights of children and the prevention of inhuman and cruel treatment,” Ms Wilkinson said.
The Law Society’s letter also sought a trauma-informed approach to the care of children in custody.
“Youth detention should be an environment for supervision and rehabilitation, not punishment and neglect,” Ms Wilkinson said.
Mr Papalia told National Indigenous Times the WA government is “committed to the continued improvement of youth justice, both in detention and the community”.
“Conditions across youth detention in Western Australia are significantly improved. There are additional staff and support services, and young people are spending more time of out cell,” he said.
“Additionally, a new, trauma-informed model of care continues to be implemented based on learnings from youth justice systems in Australia and around the world.
“The Cook government has committed to closing Unit 18 when a new purpose-built, high security and therapeutic-based detention facility for the most complex detainees is in operation.”
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