Editorial: Youth justice failings deeper than Unit 18

It took the death of a child, but finally, the State Government has a plan to shut down Casuarina Prison’s notorious Unit 18. Or, at least, it plans to make a plan. The Labor Government says it has set aside $1 million to develop a plan and business case for a new development, which is expected to be next to the Banksia Hill detention centre. The new “high security, therapeutic” facility will house the State’s “most challenging young offenders”, the Government says. As yet, there’s no budget estimates or, crucially, a projected completion date. So for the foreseeable future, children will remain in Unit 18 — the place where 16-year-old Cleveland Dodd last month took his own life. The place described by Children’s Court President Hylton Quail as “hell on earth”. The place children with disabilities have been kept locked in their cells for 22 hours a day in recent months. The place where one-in-five detainees had attempted suicide. Premier Roger Cook says he is committing to turning around WA’s failing youth justice system. Previously, he has said that it is one of his greatest frustrations that he has been unable to offer a timeline as to when we can expect Unit 18 will be decommissioned for good. He says he wants to be the Premier to make a lasting change. There’s no doubting his sincerity. The Government is at pains to point out that conditions have improved at both Unit 18 and Banksia Hill, with improved out-of-cell hours for detainees. Kids are spending more time in education and participating in programs, they claim. But it must be pointed out that Unit 18 was gazetted in July 2022 by the McGowan government — in which Mr Cook served as deputy premier — first elected in 2017. This Government cannot blame the failings of WA’s youth justice system on previous regimes. Under Labor, things have only become worse. Of course, the problems which run through WA’s youth justice system go much deeper than infrastructure, and won’t be fixed by shutting Unit 18. A new building, no matter how flash, won’t stop the pipeline of despair which is taking troubled kids, chewing them up and spitting them out the other side as deeply damaged, dangerous adults. Fixing that will be much harder. It will take a cultural shift. It will dedicated people working within the youth justice system. It will also take buckets and buckets of money. And along with that, it will take sustained political will. Through all of this, it’s important to remember what led us to this point. The death of a troubled young Aboriginal boy, in a place he should have been safe. The first child to die in custody in more than a decade in Australia, and the first ever in WA. In the days after Cleveland’s death, his brave family pledged their immense loss would not be in vain. They were determined his tragic death would lead to lasting change. We will wait to see if this is an ambition this Labor Government can fulfil. Responsibility for the editorial comment is taken by WAN Editor-in-Chief Anthony De Ceglie