❓ A WA parliamentary question reveals that young people at Banksia Hill Detention Centre and Unit 18 were frequently kept in cells for 20+ hours a day between August and November 2022, raising concerns about youth detention conditions.
AnsweredQoN 1091Legislative Council
QuestionView source ↗
(1) On how many occasions since the 25th August 2022 has a young person detained at Banksia Hill Detention Centre and Unit 18, respectively, been kept in a cell for 20 hours or more in a day? (2) Please provide a tabled breakdown of (a)?
AnswerView source ↗
Answered
14 February 2023
Responded by
Parliamentary Secretary representing the Minister for Corrective Services
Response time
10 days
The following table relates to the number of occasions between 25 August 2022 and 20 November 2022 where a young person spent at least 20 hours in lockdown
Facility
Occasions
Banksia Hill Detention Centre
981
Unit 18 Juvenile Security
32
Total
1,113
Table 1: Individual lockdowns from 25 August to 20 November 2022 for young people accommodated at Unit 18.
Date
Lock Reason
Details
01/09/2022
Good Order
Young person was offered time out of cell, however he declined.
01/09/2022
Good Order
Incident management.
01/09/2022
Good Order
Incident management.
05/09/2022
Good Order
Incident management.
05/09/2022
Good Order
Incident management.
05/09/2022
Good Order
Incident management.
11/09/2022
Other
Young person was offered time out of cell, however he declined.
11/09/2022
Other
Young person was offered time out of cell, however he declined.
12/09/2022
Incident Management
Incident Management. Trades being on site for repairs and Cleaning of U18. Unit poses risk to safety for all young people.
12/09/2022
Incident Management
Incident Management. Trades being on site for repairs and Cleaning of U18. Unit poses risk to safety for all young people.
12/09/2022
Incident Management
Incident Management. Trades being on site for repairs and Cleaning of U18. Unit poses risk to safety for all young people.
12/09/2022
Incident Management
Incident Management. Trades being on site for repairs and Cleaning of U18. Unit poses risk to safety for all young people.
12/09/2022
Incident Management
Incident Management. Trades being on site for repairs and Cleaning of U18. Unit poses risk to safety for all young people.
12/09/2022
Incident Management
Incident Management. Trades being on site for repairs and Cleaning of U18. Unit poses risk to safety for all young people.
12/09/2022
Incident Management
Incident Management. Trades being on site for repairs and Cleaning of U18. Unit poses risk to safety for all young people.
12/09/2022
Incident Management
Incident Management. Trades being on site for repairs and Cleaning of U18. Unit poses risk to safety for all young people.
12/09/2022
Incident Management
Incident Management. Trades being on site for repairs and Cleaning of U18. Unit poses risk to safety for all young people.
12/09/2022
Incident Management
Incident Management. Trades being on site for repairs and Cleaning of U18. Unit poses risk to safety for all young people.
12/09/2022
Incident Management
Incident Management. Trades being on site for repairs and Cleaning of U18. Unit poses risk to safety for all young people.
12/09/2022
Incident Management
Incident Management. Trades being on site for repairs and Cleaning of U18. Unit poses risk to safety for all young people.
13/09/2022
Good Order
Trades being on site for repairs and Cleaning of U18. Unit poses risk to safety for all young people.
13/09/2022
Good Order
Trades being on site for repairs and Cleaning of U18. Unit poses risk to safety for all young people.
13/09/2022
Good Order
Trades being on site for repairs and Cleaning of U18. Unit poses risk to safety for all young people.
16/09/2022
Good Order
Incident management.
19/09/2022
Other
Young person was offered time out of cell, however he declined.
21/09/2022
Good Order
Incident management.
21/09/2022
Good Order
Incident management.
24/09/2022
Other
Young person was offered time out of cell, however he declined.
25/09/2022
Good Order
Young person was offered time out of cell, however he declined.
30/09/2022
Good Order
COVID isolation procedures.
30/09/2022
Good Order
COVID isolation procedures.
30/09/2022
Good Order
COVID isolation procedures.
Notes for Interpretation
Unlike adult custodial, youth custodial does not have a Key Performance Indicator associated with out of cell hours. As such, youth lockdown data has not been subject to the same ongoing audit and quality checks as adult lockdown data.
What has become evident with the greater scrutiny applied to Banksia Hill operations this year is that the existing out of cell hours reporting module on TOMS database is flawed. The Department has taken steps to replace the existing data module, and in the interim, initiated at Unit 18 a diarised recording of hours out of cell to provide a more accurate accounting for detainees’ time out of cell each day.
As a consequence, the Unit 18 data for the period required has been cross checked against a number of data sources and is considered accurate. The Banksia Hill Detention Centre data is affected by known data quality issues and thus a detailed breakdown is not available.
Definitions and Terminology
Term
Definition
Standard Unlock Hours
The facility’s regular out of cell hours. Both Banksia Hill Detention Centre and Casuarina Unit 18 Juvenile Centre have regular out of cell hours starting at 07:45 and ending at 19:00 on weekdays and weekends, equating to 11 hours and 15 minutes a day.
Lockdown
A period of time where detainees are confined to their cells or units during standard unlock hours.
At least 20 hours in lockdown
For the purposes of this request a young person is deemed to have spent more than 20 hours in lockdown where lockdown records indicate that they spent less than 4 of the available Standard Unlock Hours out of cells during the course of a day.
Occasions
A distinct count of young person lockdown days. For example, two young people in lockdown for more than 20 hours over 5 distinct days equates to 10 occasions.
Distinct Young People
The number of distinct young people at the facility who were in lockdown for more than 20 hours.
Distinct Days
The number of days during which at least one young person at the facility was in lockdown for more than 20 hours.
TOMS
Total Offender Management Solution. The custodial application used to capture data about people in prison custody.
It is noted the response to this Parliamentary Question is based on the Department’s TOMS record as at the most recent census date available (20 November 2022).
Facility
Occasions
Banksia Hill Detention Centre
981
Unit 18 Juvenile Security
32
Total
1,113
Table 1: Individual lockdowns from 25 August to 20 November 2022 for young people accommodated at Unit 18.
Date
Lock Reason
Details
01/09/2022
Good Order
Young person was offered time out of cell, however he declined.
01/09/2022
Good Order
Incident management.
01/09/2022
Good Order
Incident management.
05/09/2022
Good Order
Incident management.
05/09/2022
Good Order
Incident management.
05/09/2022
Good Order
Incident management.
11/09/2022
Other
Young person was offered time out of cell, however he declined.
11/09/2022
Other
Young person was offered time out of cell, however he declined.
12/09/2022
Incident Management
Incident Management. Trades being on site for repairs and Cleaning of U18. Unit poses risk to safety for all young people.
12/09/2022
Incident Management
Incident Management. Trades being on site for repairs and Cleaning of U18. Unit poses risk to safety for all young people.
12/09/2022
Incident Management
Incident Management. Trades being on site for repairs and Cleaning of U18. Unit poses risk to safety for all young people.
12/09/2022
Incident Management
Incident Management. Trades being on site for repairs and Cleaning of U18. Unit poses risk to safety for all young people.
12/09/2022
Incident Management
Incident Management. Trades being on site for repairs and Cleaning of U18. Unit poses risk to safety for all young people.
12/09/2022
Incident Management
Incident Management. Trades being on site for repairs and Cleaning of U18. Unit poses risk to safety for all young people.
12/09/2022
Incident Management
Incident Management. Trades being on site for repairs and Cleaning of U18. Unit poses risk to safety for all young people.
12/09/2022
Incident Management
Incident Management. Trades being on site for repairs and Cleaning of U18. Unit poses risk to safety for all young people.
12/09/2022
Incident Management
Incident Management. Trades being on site for repairs and Cleaning of U18. Unit poses risk to safety for all young people.
12/09/2022
Incident Management
Incident Management. Trades being on site for repairs and Cleaning of U18. Unit poses risk to safety for all young people.
12/09/2022
Incident Management
Incident Management. Trades being on site for repairs and Cleaning of U18. Unit poses risk to safety for all young people.
12/09/2022
Incident Management
Incident Management. Trades being on site for repairs and Cleaning of U18. Unit poses risk to safety for all young people.
13/09/2022
Good Order
Trades being on site for repairs and Cleaning of U18. Unit poses risk to safety for all young people.
13/09/2022
Good Order
Trades being on site for repairs and Cleaning of U18. Unit poses risk to safety for all young people.
13/09/2022
Good Order
Trades being on site for repairs and Cleaning of U18. Unit poses risk to safety for all young people.
16/09/2022
Good Order
Incident management.
19/09/2022
Other
Young person was offered time out of cell, however he declined.
21/09/2022
Good Order
Incident management.
21/09/2022
Good Order
Incident management.
24/09/2022
Other
Young person was offered time out of cell, however he declined.
25/09/2022
Good Order
Young person was offered time out of cell, however he declined.
30/09/2022
Good Order
COVID isolation procedures.
30/09/2022
Good Order
COVID isolation procedures.
30/09/2022
Good Order
COVID isolation procedures.
Notes for Interpretation
Unlike adult custodial, youth custodial does not have a Key Performance Indicator associated with out of cell hours. As such, youth lockdown data has not been subject to the same ongoing audit and quality checks as adult lockdown data.
What has become evident with the greater scrutiny applied to Banksia Hill operations this year is that the existing out of cell hours reporting module on TOMS database is flawed. The Department has taken steps to replace the existing data module, and in the interim, initiated at Unit 18 a diarised recording of hours out of cell to provide a more accurate accounting for detainees’ time out of cell each day.
As a consequence, the Unit 18 data for the period required has been cross checked against a number of data sources and is considered accurate. The Banksia Hill Detention Centre data is affected by known data quality issues and thus a detailed breakdown is not available.
Definitions and Terminology
Term
Definition
Standard Unlock Hours
The facility’s regular out of cell hours. Both Banksia Hill Detention Centre and Casuarina Unit 18 Juvenile Centre have regular out of cell hours starting at 07:45 and ending at 19:00 on weekdays and weekends, equating to 11 hours and 15 minutes a day.
Lockdown
A period of time where detainees are confined to their cells or units during standard unlock hours.
At least 20 hours in lockdown
For the purposes of this request a young person is deemed to have spent more than 20 hours in lockdown where lockdown records indicate that they spent less than 4 of the available Standard Unlock Hours out of cells during the course of a day.
Occasions
A distinct count of young person lockdown days. For example, two young people in lockdown for more than 20 hours over 5 distinct days equates to 10 occasions.
Distinct Young People
The number of distinct young people at the facility who were in lockdown for more than 20 hours.
Distinct Days
The number of days during which at least one young person at the facility was in lockdown for more than 20 hours.
TOMS
Total Offender Management Solution. The custodial application used to capture data about people in prison custody.
It is noted the response to this Parliamentary Question is based on the Department’s TOMS record as at the most recent census date available (20 November 2022).
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