The National Network condemns the Western Australian Government’s decision to transfer children involved in the recent distress event at Banksia Hill to Unit 18 inside the maximum-security adult Casuarina Prison. ‘This response is not only harmful, it is unconscionable,’ said Debbie Kilroy.
Six children, some as young as twelve, climbed onto the roof at Banksia Hill this week in an act that authorities have described as “inexcusable.” Three have already been moved to Unit 18, with the remainder under assessment for the same punitive transfer.
Let us be clear: children in crisis are not criminals, they are children in pain.
‘What the government calls “disturbance” is, in reality, an act of desperation from young people who have been harmed at every turn, by systems that were meant to protect them, not cage them,’ said Debbie Kilroy.
A TRAUMATISED CHILD IS NOT A SECURITY THREAT
Suicide prevention experts and frontline advocates have repeatedly warned that children in prison are living with complex trauma, disability, neurodevelopmental vulnerabilities, and chronic unmet needs.
‘Instead of listening, the Minister for Corrective Services has doubled down on punishment, describing these children as “just the nature of who they are,” and dismissing evidence-based concerns as “totally untrue.”
This rhetoric is dangerous,’ said Debbie Kilroy.
It shifts blame onto children rather than confronting the brutal reality:
- Banksia Hill and Unit 18 are environments that erode children’s self-esteem and deprive them of safety and wellbeing.
- Children are being warehoused, not supported
- Punishment has replaced care
‘Every major inquiry has confirmed what communities have been saying for decades, incarceration does not rehabilitate children; it destroys them,’ said Debbie Kilroy.
MOVING CHILDREN TO AN ADULT PRISON IS STATE-SANCTIONED HARM
Unit 18 has been condemned nationally and internationally for:
- extreme isolation
- lack of therapeutic care
- high rates of self-injury
- repeated human rights breaches
‘Transferring traumatised children into an adult prison is not a “response”, it is an escalation of violence by the state,’ said Tabitha Lean.
‘Children climbing onto a roof are not demonstrating criminal intent. They are communicating the only way the system allows them to be heard,’ said Tabitha Lean.
WE MUST LISTEN, NOT PUNISH
‘It should never fall to children to risk their safety to tell us they are not okay. As adults, as a community, we must refuse the politics of punishment,’ said Tabitha Lean.
The National Network call on the Western Australian Government to:
- Immediately cease all transfers of children to Unit 18
- End the practice of imprisoning children in adult prisons
- Provide immediate 24/7 cultural, and disability-appropriate supports
- Invest in community-based, Aboriginal-led solutions and no more cages
- Publicly affirm that punishment is not, and will never be, care
‘Children do not climb roofs because they are “the nature of who they are.” They climb roofs because their environment has made safety impossible,’ said Tabitha Lean.
IT IS NOT TOO LATE TO CHOOSE CARE OVER CRUELTY
‘Every time the government responds with force instead of support, it sends one message: children in pain are disposable – We reject that.,’ said Debbie Kilroy.
‘These children are our responsibility, our future, not a problem to be contained. If the government truly wants safety, healing, and accountability, it must start by listening to the children, not punishing them for surviving,’ said Debbie Kilroy.
For further comment, please contact Debbie Kilroy on 0419 762 474 or Tabitha Lean on 0499 780 226
