State government taking too long to rebuild youth detention facility

ABC NEWS (Australia)

The state government has been criticised for taking too long to build a replacement for youth detention facility, Unit 18, which was hastily set up inside an adult prison. It was first promised more than a year-and-a-half ago. But remains in planning. And a warning, this story discusses incidents of self-harm and contains the name and image of an Indigenous person who has died.

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00:00Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders are advised that this video contains images and

00:07voices of people who have died.

00:10In the wake of 16-year-old Cleveland Dodd's death after self-harming inside Unit 18, the

00:15government announced plans to replace the facility with one that's purpose-built, but

00:2019 months later the budget has no money put aside for construction.

00:24The government clearly hasn't prioritised in this budget the building of a youth detention

00:29and rehabilitation facility, instead they've prioritised things like the Burswood Racetrack

00:33which has a very clear plan, very clear costings.

00:36The coroner investigating Cleveland's death indicated he may recommend Unit 18 be closed

00:41as a matter of urgency. The Minister says work is underway but wants it done properly.

00:47It's important that the design is thorough, it's informed by a lot of work, not just with

00:52people like architects and prison authorities but also the people who work inside those

00:58detention facilities right now.

01:00We need those kids out of an adult detention facility as soon as we can.

01:05Jacqueline McGowan-Jones says while conditions in detention have improved markedly since Cleveland

01:10Dodd's death, more fundamental change was needed.

01:13What do we do to stop them going into custody in the first place? That means you have to have

01:19services and supports set up.

01:22Police also welcoming a preventative focus.

01:24Our police have seen a drastic reduction as a result of having things like safe space

01:29at nights and places where police can take young children so they aren't out committing

01:34crime.

01:35The coroner's also indicated he may recommend there be a wider ranging special enquiry into

01:41issues like how and why Unit 18 was opened. That seems unlikely though because it would

01:46need government support to go ahead.

01:48Until the final report of the inquest is made, it's not appropriate that we make comment.

01:53I'm a woman who's seen more than 3,000 recommendations on how we do things better for children and young

01:59people in detention and child protection from goodness knows how many enquiries. Let's get

02:05on with making the changes.

02:07It's hoped the coroner's final report will be delivered before the end of the year.

02:16of the year we have been making the changes.

02:23The coroner's final report will be delivered before the end of the year.

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