The day after a teenager took his own life in WA's troubled Banksia Hill Detention Centre last week, the Corrective Services Minister said the state's top child advocate had given the facility a "glowing report". But Jacqueline McGowan-Jones, who is the commissioner for children and young people, has told ABC Stateline she's devastated that her observations were used out of context. As Ms McGowan-Jones told WA political reporter Rhiannon Shine, the state's record on youth justice is appalling in the eyes of the country and the world.
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00:00Commissioner for Children and Young People, Jacqueline McGowan-Jones, welcome to Stateline
00:06WA.
00:07Thank you for having me, Rhiannon.
00:09This government has enjoyed both wealth and power, billions of dollars in surpluses, total
00:15control of the parliament.
00:17Why can't they prevent children from dying in detention?
00:21There's a rhetoric around the fact that children and young people have become more violent
00:28and that is certainly the case for some.
00:31We only have around 60 children and young people in detention, but they cost an inordinate
00:37amount to care for, so at Unit 18 about a million dollars and at Manxey Hill about $700,000.
00:45The community quite rightly is concerned about safety, however we have evidence from Australia
00:50and all over the world that incarceration and jailing is failing and we need to invest
00:59significantly more in early interventions, prevention and diversion and family supports.
01:08This takes a generation or more to change and that doesn't fit a political life cycle.
01:17Two deaths in 10 months, how does Western Australia look in the eyes of advocates like
01:23yourself around the country, around the world?
01:26Appalling, especially given the factors you pointed out earlier.
01:30We are one of the wealthiest states in a very wealthy nation.
01:35We have more than 110,000 children and young people in poverty in Western Australia alone
01:41and we can't care for the most vulnerable in our systems.
01:46So if we've got children and young people that are in an out of home care system or
01:50in the youth justice detention centres, our primary responsibility is to keep them safe.
01:57On the day he revealed that another teenager had died in detention, the Corrective Services
02:01Minister referenced a recent visit of yours to Manxey Hill and said you'd given a glowing
02:07report.
02:08How did you feel when you heard that?
02:10Well firstly devastated and secondly very concerned that the Minister doesn't understand
02:18how that might affect my own wellbeing and primarily because it was out of context.
02:26So I had visited to see what changes had been made since we finished our inquiry.
02:33So in nine months I expected to see a whole lot of change and there was.
02:39When I spoke to the children and young people they were telling me what had improved for
02:43them.
02:44Nonetheless, what we see are more fences, more barbed wire and instead of programs that
02:54are individually focused on an individual child's need, they're whole of cohort approaches.
03:00Now I know that will take time but these kids haven't got time.
03:04You mentioned your wellbeing.
03:06What effect did it have on you?
03:08It's very disturbing to hear about the death of a child but as an Aboriginal person in
03:15my community, there is a huge expectation on me and for community to think that I gave
03:21a glowing report has a huge impact on my wellbeing.
03:27When we had the inquest up for young Master Dodd, I was bombarded with messages about
03:34how his death was on my hands.
03:37Your role is to advocate for these kids.
03:40Do you think you've done enough?
03:43I think every day that what more can I do and I do try my very hardest to advocate for
03:48these kids because they are the most disadvantaged and vulnerable in our community.
03:54I don't know what more you can do.
03:56I meet with government, we've done the inquiry.
03:59We publicly talk about our concerns around the youth justice system, which I prefer to
04:06think of as a legal system because there's not much justice at times.
04:12I'm not sure what extra I can do but keep the pressure on.
04:15Commissioner, thank you very much for your time.
04:18Thank you Rhiannon.