Perth’s Banksia Hill detention centre breached international standards by holding two teenagers in “solitary confinement” for 10 days in 2017, an independent investigation by the Western Australian office of custodial services has found.
The investigation was prompted by allegations by Amnesty Australia, published in Guardian Australia.
It found that a number of the allegations made by Amnesty were not substantiated, including an allegation that the boys, now aged 18 and 19, were held in solitary confinement for a “prolonged period”.
But it found that both boys were “probably held in ‘solitary confinement’ as defined by international standards” for 10 days after they were moved to the intensive support unit (ISU) on 4 May 2017.
The boys were alleged to be among 16 detainees who caused significant damage and lit fires at the centre on 4 and 5 May, 2017. Another of the boys was still in the ISU as of June 2018 – 13 months later.
Under the Mandela rules, a person is considered to be held in solitary confinement if they are allowed out of their cell for less than two hours every 24 hours.
Inspector Neil Morgan said records kept by Banksia Hill in the weeks immediately following the move to ISU were insufficient or non-existent, but suggested that: “For around 10 days after the May 2017 incidents, [the boys] were not given their entitlements to fresh air and exercise.”
However the his report, published on Tuesday, found that this treatment was not technically in breach of WA law because the boys were managed under individual case plans, which circumvented rules around solitary confinement and “arguably undermine the spirit of the [law]”.
It recommended a comprehensive review of the Young Offenders Act 1995, including repealing the “obsolete, outdated and inconsistent” provisions around confinement to ensure a minimum two hours outside the cell each day, in accordance with international law.
Amnesty Australia welcomed the report and the recommendations, saying the investigation proved the substantive point of its allegations that solitary confinement as defined in international law had been used at Banksia Hill.
“It’s a stain on Western Australia that these domestic laws don’t meet the standards of international law,” Amnesty’s Indigenous rights manager, Tammy Solonec, said.
Solonec called on the corrections minister, Fran Logan, who ordered Morgan’s investigation, to prioritise the review “so that no WA child is ever held in solitary confinement in the future.
Currently, regulations allow for children at Banksia Hill to be kept in “confinement” for up to 48 hours for punishment or risk management reasons, with three 30-minute periods per day outside their cell. Children can also spent 24 hours in what is called “good order confinement” provided they get one hour outside the cell every day.
In this case, the boys were managed under what is called a “change of accommodation personal support plan,” with a minimum one hour per day out of their cell.
The investigation also concluded that the boys were frequently handcuffed in the six months immediately following the incident and that the use of handcuffs was not recorded as a use of force because it was permitted under their personal support plans. Morgan recommended that exemption to recording a use of force be removed.
He said there was insufficient information to determine whether either boy had their bedding or mattress removed, but recommended it only be removed when a young person was at risk.
The investigation found no evidence to support allegations that one of the boys had self-harmed 100 times between May and December 2017 or that he was “regularly” strip searched, finding that he underwent four strip searches between May 2017 and March 2018.
It also found no evidence the boys had been denied access to education, programs, and psychological services; or had been denied access to food or been fed through a grille in the cell door.
