Last week, a 17-year-old boy died by self-harm in his cell at Banksia Hill Detention Centre in Western Australia. This tragic event was the second death of a child within the state’s youth detention system in less than a year.
In October 2023, Cleveland Dodd, a 16-year-old, lost his life by self-harm in Unit 18, a repurposed unit for child detainees, in Casuarina, a maximum-security adult prison.
An inquest into Cleveland’s death revealed that detainees in Unit 18 faced conditions of solitary confinement and often resided in cells lacking running water.
Dana Levitt, a lawyer representing children currently and previously detained in Banksia Hill and Unit 18 in class action lawsuits against the Western Australian government, told Human Rights Watch that one of her colleagues had interviewed the 17-year-old in late 2023 about his experiences in detention. She said the boy came across as “smart and motivated.”
Levitt reported that the boy, who was then in Unit 18, said that he was a ward of the state, had a disability, and had been repeatedly detained since age 11.
In his interview he detailed the mistreatment he endured during detention, including routine solitary confinement. This account still needed confirmation by departmental documents or records.
Levitt wrote in an email to Human Rights Watch:
“He was subject to the following practices, all of which are incompatible with a trauma-informed model of care: regular verbal abuse by custodial staff; excessive use of force, including the use of chemical agents i.e. pepper spray deployed by prison officers; and routine solitary confinement, including after he had engaged in serious self-harm and attempted suicide.”
Solitary confinement is universally harmful but is especially detrimental to children and people with disabilities. In 2018, Human Rights Watch documented that people with disabilities in Australian prisons were disproportionately placed in solitary confinement. In 2020, Human Rights Watch reported that the Western Australian government was failing to adequately recognize the risk of, provide meaningful mental health support for, and was increasing the likelihood of self-harm and suicide by placing people with disabilities in solitary confinement.
The latest death within Western Australia’s youth detention system underscores the urgent need for reform. The state government should take immediate action to prohibit the use of solitary confinement for children and individuals with disabilities and invest in detention alternatives that uphold children’s rights.
