Case Explained: Experts condemn ‘reactionary’ WA youth justice … – Legal Perspective

Western Australian justice advocates have joined counterparts across the country in calling for federal intervention in the youth justice system, condemning what they describe as “reactionary” tough-on-crime policies that undermine rehabilitation.

Ahead of a Senate inquiry into the youth justice and incarceration system in Perth, submissions overwhelmingly criticised the system linked to the tragic death of 16-year-old Yamatji boy Cleveland Dodd. The teenager — the first death in WA’s youth justice system — died after spending a week on life support following a self-harm incident in Unit 18 — the youth detention unit located inside Perth’s maximum-security Casuarina Prison.

The subsequent inquest heard evidence of systemic failures affecting children in detention, including cases where children as young as ten were held in isolation for days at a time. It also heard claims that public service officials had provided misleading information about conditions within the facility.

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Despite the Coroner explicitly recommending the closure of Unit 18, the Aboriginal Legal Service of WA (ALSWA) noted that authorities quickly rejected the proposal.

Less than three hours after the recommendation was delivered, “both the Minister for Corrective Services and the Corrective Services Commissioner disagreed with these recommendations, advising that Unit 18 will remain open for at least another three years,” an ALSWA submission to the Senate inquiry said.

Officials justified the decision by arguing — despite evidence to the contrary — that there was “no evidence” suggesting youth justice would achieve better outcomes if it were separated from the adult corrections system, ALSWA added.

International observers have also raised concerns. Delegates visiting Australia as part of the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention were denied access to both Unit 18 and Banksia Hill Detention Centre. Despite the refusal, the group described Australia’s youth justice system as a “stain on Australia’s reputation”.

In November 2025, the Australian Child Rights Taskforce wrote to the UN to support a complaint lodged by the Human Rights Law Centre and Indigenous international law experts Professor Megan Davis and Associate Professor Hannah McGlade on the disproportionate impact of youth justice laws on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children.

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Although Western Australia’s Indigenous youth incarceration rate sits below the national average, First Nations children in the state are still imprisoned at vastly disproportionate levels. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people in WA are incarcerated at a rate 21.9 times higher than non-Indigenous children.

Submissions to the inquiry highlighted the high prevalence of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) among children in detention. Nationally, around one in three young people in youth detention is estimated to have FASD, with most cases remaining undiagnosed.

A 2024 report from the WA Children’s Commissioner found many children in custody “could not associate their actions with consequences,” and that many had “complex needs… including intellectual disability, cognitive impairment, developmental delay, neurodivergence or challenges” — including FASD.

NOFASD Australia, the national peak body representing individuals and families living with the condition, warned that detention environments can worsen behavioural responses for affected young people.

In its submission, the organisation said young people with FASD — many of whom “experience difficulties with abstract reasoning, predictability, and fairness concepts” — can find detention settings destabilising, with conditions that “can trigger dysregulation and escalation”.

A separate joint submission from Dr McGlade, Professor Fiona Stanley, Professor Carol Bower, Professor Patricia Dudgeon, Dr Jocelyn Jones, Dr Sharynne Hamilton and Dr Hayley Passmore argued the pathway into detention for many Aboriginal children begins before birth.

They said these vulnerabilities often start “in utero,” and are “exacerbated by the lack of responsive and caring services in the early years and in the teens”.

The group — which has collectively produced extensive research on youth justice and child wellbeing — said it was deeply frustrated at being asked to contribute to yet another inquiry examining the same issues.

“We want to be clear that we are appalled at the number of inquiries, all of which come up with the same or very similar recommendations, that have been ignored by every state and territory nationally,” they said.

“We have to confess that we are cynical that your inquiry will make any difference to one of the most punitive youth ‘justice’ systems in the world.”

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The experts called for greater investment in diversionary and therapeutic programs designed to keep children out of detention and address the underlying causes of offending.

They said funding for existing programs should be prioritised “for these damaged and difficult children who have been arrested,” arguing their success provides the “answer to those lobbying for ‘solutions to punishing young people for the crimes they commit and to protect the public'”.

At the same time, they acknowledged the political pressure behind tougher laws.

“We realise that the victims of crime and the police unions in each state have lobbied for ‘tough on crime’ and ‘adult time for adult crime’ policies — more police, more severe sentences, bail laws that punish Aboriginal and other children who are homeless,” they said.

“None of these approaches work; what we have recommended does work, both to reduce crime and to protect the public.”

Speaking before her appearance at the inquiry, Amanda Hunt, the WA Director of 54 reasons — the Australian service delivery arm of Save the Children — said real reform was about tackling root causes — not symptoms.

“We know what works: every day in the work that we do, we see the positive impact of early intervention and diversionary services that meet children and young people where they are, and incorporate their views and experiences,” Ms Hunt said.

“Australia’s youth justice systems are in crisis and going backwards. Children and young people here in Western Australia and across the country are paying the price for some of the most unacceptable system failings in this country.”

In its earlier submission to the Cleveland Dodd inquest, ALSWA argued Western Australia’s history demonstrated the “youth justice system is broken and will inevitably continue to go through cycles of dysfunction and cause irrevocable harm” to children.

The organisation said lasting change would require national leadership.

“Meaningful action must be taken by the Federal Government to prevent this cycle continuing, including by fully implementing Australia’s international obligations with regards to the rights of children and young people.”