Protesters call for immediate closure of Unit 18 juvenile wing in Perth’s Casuarina maximum security prison
In short:
More than 100 people gathered outside Parliament House in Perth to call for the immediate closure of the notorious Unit 18 juvenile wing inside Casuarina maximum security adult prison.
It followed the deaths of two teenagers in the WA detention system in the past 10 months.
The WA government came under fire at the rally for its handing of youth justice issues, but Premier Roger Cook has defended Labor’s performance.
Calls are mounting for the immediate closure of the notorious Unit 18 juvenile wing inside the maximum security Casuarina Prison following the deaths of two teenagers in WA detention in the past 10 months.
WARNING: This story discusses incidents of self-harm and contains the name and image of an Indigenous person who has died.
More than 100 protesters gathered at Parliament House in Perth on Thursday, with many holding placards and calling for Unit 18 to be closed urgently before another tragedy occurs.
Among the attendees was Stuart Dodd, the grandfather of 16-year-old Cleveland Dodd, who died last October after self-harming in his Unit 18 cell.
Mr Dodd spoke of the pain his family had felt over the past year, and leading up to the anniversary of his death next month.
“I don’t want this to happen to anybody, seriously, the pain that me and my family are going through today … I don’t know what to say,” Mr Dodd said.
‘It breaks my soul’
Suicide prevention advocate Gerry Georgatos also spoke at the protest about the state of WA’s youth detention system and criticised the state government for its handling of Unit 18.
“We have tragically lost two boys … it breaks my soul,” he said
“They say we have broken these kids, but I say from my experience, they have broken lives and broken minds.
“This government will make more commitments, more promises, and as they’ve done over the last two tenures of government, over the last two stretches, they broke every promise and they’ll break them again.”
Two boys die in less than a year
Unit 18 was converted from a maximum security block to a youth detention facility in just nine days.
It was touted as a safe environment for a “difficult cohort” of young offenders, but has been plagued by problems since it opened in 2022.
Cleveland’s death marked the state’s first recorded juvenile death in custody and sparked immense public outcry.
Less than a year after Cleveland’s death, and ahead of the conclusion of the coronial inquest into his death, a 17-year-old boy killed himself inside the Banksia Hill facility.
The boy became the second child on record to die in youth detention in WA and had only been at Banksia for two days before he took his own life.
He had also reportedly previously been held at Unit 18, had been in and out of detention for years and had a diagnosed disability.
No timeline for Unit 18 replacement
This week, Premier Roger Cook said the findings of an investigation into the boy’s death might not be made public.
“It may be that the coroner doesn’t want that report to be made public. It may be that there are other treatments of that report as part of the investigation process,” he said.
However, he did note the government would do “whatever it could to make sure the investigation was as public as possible”.
The government has previously announced a new high-security “therapeutic” youth detention facility would be built next to Banksia Hill in a move that would allow for the closure of the trouble-plagued Unit 18.
It has confirmed the business case for the facility, but the timeline and the costs remain largely unknown.
Corrective Services Commissioner Brad Royce said during the Dodd inquest that it could take up to five years to build a replacement facility, but WA Liberal Party leader Libby Mettam wants Unit 18 closed now.
She has promised to close it within a year if her party wins the coming state election.
“We would make it a priority, we would be able to close it within 12 months, shifting to a more suitable facility which would be prioritising community safety as well as the rehabilitation of those juvenile detainees,” she said.
But Mr Cook has defended the government’s performance on the issue.
“We want to keep the community safe, we want to keep the staff who run those facilities safe, we want to keep those young detainees safe as well. Unit 18 is an important part of that,” Mr Cook said.
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