WA only State in Australia with juvenile prison pop of more than 100 that houses all offenders in one facility

WA is the only State with a juvenile prison population regularly exceeding 100, which houses all of its young offenders in a single facility — with next-worst Queensland already committing to expanding its custodial estate for children and teenagers to five separate compounds. As Premier Mark McGowan continues to resist calls for a dedicated prison for juveniles on remand, analysis reveals Banksia Hill is expected to carry the greatest burden of any detention centre in the country. The most up-to-date figures compiled by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare show that the average number of juveniles being detained in WA in the June quarter of 2022 was 110. Last year, the McGowan Government gazetted a second juvenile detention centre, Unit 18, within the adult maximum-security Casuarina Prison. But Unit 18 is only a temporary solution enacted after long unrest at Banksia Hill and was not intended to become a permanent part of WA’s custodial estate. Young offenders judged particularly violent or disruptive are transferred from Banksia Hill to Unit 18. Still, it is not used to formally split the prison population along age, gender, geographic or sentencing lines. The AIHW figures also reveal WA has the third-highest incarceration rate for young people aged 10 to 17 of all jurisdictions, with four children and teenagers in detention for every 10,000 in the State as of the June quarter last year. WA’s incarceration rate for Indigenous people was 45 per 100,000 — only narrowly trailing the Northern Territory’s 46. That meant Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders aged 10 to 17 living in WA were 56 times more likely to land up in prison than non-Indigenous West Australians. Queensland According to the AIHW figures, Queensland has by far the highest average juvenile prison population in the country at 278. But Queensland already operates three separate detention centres for young offenders and the Palaszczuk Government announced plans to build another two, including one in Cairns, earlier this month. One of the new youth detention centres will be built in the State’s southeast and offer “home-like accommodation”. Northern Territory The NT — with an average juvenile prisoner load half that of WA — operates two detention centres — one in Darwin and one in Alice Springs. Despite calls for the NT Government to close the Don Dale Youth Detention Centre in Darwin after years of public focus, the centre is still operational. But in the June quarter, these two detention centres only held only 56 young people. New South Wales NSW, which last financial year had an average of 198 juveniles in detention, splits the population over six justice centres, including the principal remand centre for males in Sydney, Cobham Youth Justice Centre. The NSW Government also run Frank Baxter in Kariong and Reiby in Airds in the Sydney metropolitan area, Orana in Dubbo, Riverina in Wagga Wagga, and Acmena in Grafton across regional New South Wales. Victoria Victoria has an average of 120 juveniles in detention. While similar figures to WA, these young people are housed across two youth justice centres and four youth detention centres. These detention centres separate their respective young offender populations in a number of ways including by age, gender, geographic location and remand versus sentenced. The Malmsbury and Parkville youth justice precincts have a mixture of low and high-security residential units. Melbourne Youth Justice Centre is designed to accommodate 15- to 17-year-old males through four units and a separate multi-purpose unit that houses remand prisoners. There is a boys’ home called Hillside and Acheron Youth Camp also only remands boys from the ages of 15 to 17. The camp is a minimum security training facility for juvenile males. Nalu at Fulham Correction Centre only holds first time offenders and it is minimum security with a focus on rehabilitation. Australian Capital Territory The ACT only has one juvenile detention centre called the Bimbari Youth Justice Centre. The territory holds 14 juveniles in this facility on an average day. South Australia The Adelaide Youth Training Centre, Kurlana Tapa, is the only detention centre in the South Australia state and has an average population of 32. Tasmania Tasmania also has one facility, Ashley Youth Detention Centre, with an average of 10 detainees.