116: Inspection of Banksia Hill Detention Centre

Banksia Hill Detention Centre is the state’s only juvenile detention facility, holding both boys and girls, sentenced and unsentenced, from all regions, ranging in age from 10 to 18 years (and beyond). The recent history of Banksia Hill has been characterised by instability. From the start of 2016, serious incidents occurred with growing frequency, including …

At the time of the inspection, Banksia Hill was still recovering and re-building. The new management’s priorities were to ensure the safety of young people and staff, restore stability, and build staff morale and confidence. Overall, Banksia Hill has been far more stable since May 2017. Given the chaos of recent years, management and staff …

Banksia Hill has been unstable and high risk for many years. Youth custodial services are extremely challenging, as reflected throughout Australia over the past few years. The approach to managing young people in custody needs to be clear and well communicated at all levels of the organisation. This has not been the case in Western …

The inspection report made 16 recommendations relating to Banksia Hill: Develop and implement an operational philosophy for Banksia Hill. Implement a regular program of Youth Custodial Officer recruitment that accounts for known staff attrition rates. Deliver staff training without resorting to locking young people in cell. Use the half-and-half procedure whenever a young person is …