Western Australia’s youth detention system is facing a crisis, with at least 63 self-harm attempts and seven suicide attempts recorded in just four weeks of November 2024. In the past 18 months, two children have died from self-inflicted harm. First Nations children remain vastly overrepresented, being 25 times more likely to be incarcerated than non-Indigenous children. Many incarcerated children are unsentenced, and some are held in Unit 18, a maximum-security prison cellblock criticized for inhumane conditions, including 22-hour lockdowns and lack of running water. Despite promises that Unit 18 would be temporary, it remains open, drawing widespread condemnation. Western Australia’s age of criminal responsibility is 10, far below the international recommendation of 14. Calls to raise the age have been ignored, despite evidence that incarceration fails to reduce crime. Half of the children released return to detention within two years. While the government has introduced early intervention initiatives, broader reforms are urgently needed. Community-based alternatives, such as culturally appropriate rehabilitation programs, offer a more effective and humane path forward.
Compiled from: Annabel Hennessy, “Western Australia’s Indefensible Record on Children’s Rights,” Human Rights Watch, Feb. 11, 2025.