We Can't Wait Until 2028, To Close Unit 18

We Can't Wait Until 2028, To Close Unit 18

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Thank you for your continued support to create a better youth justice system in WA. As you will know, experts and advocates have been working to improve the poor conditions in youth detention this year, but in October 2023, we tragically saw the first death of a child in detention. The next step is clear, Unit 18 must be closed.

We ask you to stand in solidarity with us and sign on to an open letter which calls for Premier Cook to immediately close Unit 18 and for meaningful reform to be implemented at Banksia. Children are being traumatised and kept in horrific conditions; change is needed.

Thank you for your continued support to create a better youth justice system in WA. As you will know, experts and advocates have been working to improve the poor conditions in youth detention this year, but in October 2023, we tragically saw the first death of a child in detention. The next step is clear, Unit 18 must be closed.

We ask you to stand in solidarity with us and sign on to an open letter which calls for Premier Cook to immediately close Unit 18 and for meaningful reform to be implemented at Banksia. Children are being traumatised and kept in horrific conditions; change is needed.

Sign the Open Letter & Join Us

On October 19th, the tragic news we had dreaded became a reality: a 16-year-old died in Unit 18. 

This death was entirely preventable, as young people should never have been placed in Unit 18. Despite numerous warnings from experts, the Government turned a blind eye, resulting in this foreseeable and heartbreaking tragedy.

Unit 18 must be closed, and the deplorable conditions in youth detention must end.

Add your name to the open letter, and join the calls of experts demanding change. 

To find out more about the inquest into Cleveland Dodd click here

srwa.org.au

Dear Premier Cook, 

We represent leaders and community members from across Western Australia. 

The evidence revealed in the Coronial Inquest into the death of 16-year-old Cleveland Dodd in a maximum-security adult prison has been devastating and deeply confronting. 

It has been revealed that Unit 18 was never able to provide children the support they needed. Instead, children were locked down for more than 23 hours a day in conditions described as degrading and harmful. 

Cleveland spent 77 of his final 93 days in these conditions. 

He died inside a WA Government-run institution. His death was predictable. His repeated cries for help went unanswered. 

These facts shock and disturb us as Western Australians. 

Senior public servants testified that Unit 18 was founded on “a series of grievous lies”—claims that it would be safe, therapeutic or fit for children. 
But Unit 18 was not safe. It never could be. And it remains open to this day. 

It has exposed systemic failures in the management of youth detention, and these failings let down all of us who expect our government to uphold children's rights. 

Children and young people do not belong in adult maximum security prison cells. They belong with their families, communities, and support systems; going to school, playing sport, and living the childhood Cleveland loved. 

The findings of the inquest have laid bare the failures in how young people have been managed and supported. The cycle of harm in our government institutions must end. 

We call on you to: 
1. Close Unit 18 immediately, we cannot afford to wait until 2028.

2. Implement the Coronial Inquest recommendations.

3. Invest in help not harm, community not custody  — invest in genuine alternatives to prison that keep children safe,supported, and connected to the community, including housing, mental health and alcohol and
drug support, and alternative education, especially Aboriginal led approaches.

4. Deliver accountability, integrity and justice, including an apology and compensation for
Cleveland’s family, and referral of any unlawful behaviour revealed in the inquest to the proper
authorities.

We need a youth justice system built on help, not harm in Western Australia. 
One that rehabilitates children instead of endangering them. And keeps communities safe by responding to the root socio-economic causes of issues. 

We cannot wait until 2028. 
Please act now. 

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