❓ Ms. Davies questions the Premier's refusal to hold a broader inquiry into youth justice. The Premier defends current approaches, citing diversionary programs and the need for consequences for repeat offenders, while acknowledging the difficult situation.
AnsweredQoN 697Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
YOUTH DETENTION — INQUIRY
697. Ms M.J. DAVIES to the Premier:
The
WA Inspector of Custodial Services, Eamon Ryan, has said that a summit is ''a
positive step'', but that ''a broader conversation''
is crucial and should involve all players: representatives from various
departments, such as the Department of
Health, the Department of Education, the Mental Health Commission, the
Department of Communities and the Department of Justice; community
representative organisations; and, most importantly, First Nations
representatives, advocates and families.
(1) Why is the
Premier ignoring experts who are calling for a broader conversation and inquiry
about youth justice in Western Australia?
(2) Will the
Premier reconsider his refusal to instigate an independent inquiry to assist
all stakeholders to share their solutions in an open and transparent forum?
697. Ms M.J. DAVIES to the Premier:
The
WA Inspector of Custodial Services, Eamon Ryan, has said that a summit is ''a
positive step'', but that ''a broader conversation''
is crucial and should involve all players: representatives from various
departments, such as the Department of
Health, the Department of Education, the Mental Health Commission, the
Department of Communities and the Department of Justice; community
representative organisations; and, most importantly, First Nations
representatives, advocates and families.
(1) Why is the
Premier ignoring experts who are calling for a broader conversation and inquiry
about youth justice in Western Australia?
(2) Will the
Premier reconsider his refusal to instigate an independent inquiry to assist
all stakeholders to share their solutions in an open and transparent forum?
AnswerView source ↗
(1)–(2) I
will be hosting a meeting of a number of interested parties who have publicly
expressed views about these matters. It will be this week or next week, I expect.
One of the representatives is Indigenous, and I have invited another person
from an organisation with an interest in the matter, and they are Indigenous,
as well. Hopefully, they will both be able to attend. I will seek practical and
sensible ideas from this group about what can be done in addition to what is
currently in place. It is a very difficult issue, as the last government found
when it was in office and moved 70 young people into Hakea Prison. That was
when the current Leader of the Opposition was a minister.
We currently have 10 or 11 detainees
in unit 18 at Casuarina Prison. In order for a detainee to get to Banksia Hill,
they will have been in the justice system for a long time and committed
multiple offences. Because of the way the Young Offenders Act is structured,
the courts will inevitably try to divert them if their offence is not extremely serious. They will be given some sort of
community order or be released without penalty. They might get a work
order. They might get some sort of supervision and welfare checks on them.
Those sorts of things will occur. Inevitably, that happens multiple times, but
if people keep offending, particularly with aggravated burglaries, robberies,
stealing cars or serious assaults, or worse—significantly worse, on
occasion—they will eventually end up in some form of custody.
The custody we have is Banksia Hill.
It has been around for 20 or so years. It is undergoing $25 million worth of improvements. We currently have 85 young
people there and 10 or 11 at unit 18. The 10 or 11 at unit 18 are there
because of their behaviour at Banksia Hill. When they destroy their cells, we
do not have anywhere to keep them at Banksia Hill. We have to move them
somewhere else, and the only place we have
had to move them to is unit 18 at Casuarina, where they are not in view of the
adult prisoners and they cannot see the adult prisoners.
It is not an easy situation, but we
are doing our best to deal with it. I think there is a lot of misinformation out there. There was a column in The West
Australian this morning, quoting Dr Adam Tomison and explaining all
the recreational programs, the music and education programs, the welfare and
the psychologists that are on offer at Banksia Hill to provide support to the
detainees there. It is all there.
As I said yesterday, the number of
youth in detention has halved over the last 10 years. Ten years ago, when
members opposite were in government, there were twice as many young people in
detention as there are now. That decrease
has happened because we have put in place a range of diversionary programs ,
such as the Target 120 program to intervene in families that are troubled, to
try to deal with the situation. Eventually, though, if people commit crimes and
their crimes are serious enough, they are going to end up in custody, and that
happens for a number of reasons.
Firstly, there needs to be a consequence
for people who repeatedly commit crimes, particularly serious crimes. If people
do not have consequences, how do they learn, particularly young people? With
children, there has to be a consequence for bad behaviour. Secondly, we need to
protect the public, the victims. Once someone is in custody and undergoing
rehabilitation, we are actually protecting the public. Victims matter. Thirdly, if people keep breaking into
someone's home or shop, they are eventually going to get hurt . If they are 13-year-olds, 14-year-olds or 15-year-olds,
or whatever age they are, eventually something bad is going to happen to
them. At least if they are in custody, that cannot happen.
This is all very unfortunate. Any
child being in custody is a sad thing, but in many cases it is unavoidable because
of their behaviour.
will be hosting a meeting of a number of interested parties who have publicly
expressed views about these matters. It will be this week or next week, I expect.
One of the representatives is Indigenous, and I have invited another person
from an organisation with an interest in the matter, and they are Indigenous,
as well. Hopefully, they will both be able to attend. I will seek practical and
sensible ideas from this group about what can be done in addition to what is
currently in place. It is a very difficult issue, as the last government found
when it was in office and moved 70 young people into Hakea Prison. That was
when the current Leader of the Opposition was a minister.
We currently have 10 or 11 detainees
in unit 18 at Casuarina Prison. In order for a detainee to get to Banksia Hill,
they will have been in the justice system for a long time and committed
multiple offences. Because of the way the Young Offenders Act is structured,
the courts will inevitably try to divert them if their offence is not extremely serious. They will be given some sort of
community order or be released without penalty. They might get a work
order. They might get some sort of supervision and welfare checks on them.
Those sorts of things will occur. Inevitably, that happens multiple times, but
if people keep offending, particularly with aggravated burglaries, robberies,
stealing cars or serious assaults, or worse—significantly worse, on
occasion—they will eventually end up in some form of custody.
The custody we have is Banksia Hill.
It has been around for 20 or so years. It is undergoing $25 million worth of improvements. We currently have 85 young
people there and 10 or 11 at unit 18. The 10 or 11 at unit 18 are there
because of their behaviour at Banksia Hill. When they destroy their cells, we
do not have anywhere to keep them at Banksia Hill. We have to move them
somewhere else, and the only place we have
had to move them to is unit 18 at Casuarina, where they are not in view of the
adult prisoners and they cannot see the adult prisoners.
It is not an easy situation, but we
are doing our best to deal with it. I think there is a lot of misinformation out there. There was a column in The West
Australian this morning, quoting Dr Adam Tomison and explaining all
the recreational programs, the music and education programs, the welfare and
the psychologists that are on offer at Banksia Hill to provide support to the
detainees there. It is all there.
As I said yesterday, the number of
youth in detention has halved over the last 10 years. Ten years ago, when
members opposite were in government, there were twice as many young people in
detention as there are now. That decrease
has happened because we have put in place a range of diversionary programs ,
such as the Target 120 program to intervene in families that are troubled, to
try to deal with the situation. Eventually, though, if people commit crimes and
their crimes are serious enough, they are going to end up in custody, and that
happens for a number of reasons.
Firstly, there needs to be a consequence
for people who repeatedly commit crimes, particularly serious crimes. If people
do not have consequences, how do they learn, particularly young people? With
children, there has to be a consequence for bad behaviour. Secondly, we need to
protect the public, the victims. Once someone is in custody and undergoing
rehabilitation, we are actually protecting the public. Victims matter. Thirdly, if people keep breaking into
someone's home or shop, they are eventually going to get hurt . If they are 13-year-olds, 14-year-olds or 15-year-olds,
or whatever age they are, eventually something bad is going to happen to
them. At least if they are in custody, that cannot happen.
This is all very unfortunate. Any
child being in custody is a sad thing, but in many cases it is unavoidable because
of their behaviour.
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