By Jessica Micallef
Victorian Ombudsman Deborah Glass is calling on the state government to prohibit solitary confinement at Malmsbury’s Youth Justice Centre.
Ms Glass inspected Port Phillip Prison, Malmsbury Youth Justice Precinct and secure welfare services in Ascot Vale and Maribyrnong in March and April to look at each facility’s use of solitary confinement on young people.
According to a report released by Ms Glass earlier this month, there were 13,000 instances, across a 12-month period, when a child or young person was isolated during lockdown at the Malmsbury Youth Justice Precinct. About 40 per cent of the lockdowns were attributed to staff shortages.
Ms Glass said young people were often separated for weeks, even when they appeared to have little or no risk of harm to others.
“Legislation and official procedures acknowledge that children and young people should be isolated only as a last resort and for the minimum time necessary,” she said.
“But we found the procedures do not translate into practice. The direct impact is that many of the practices in both our youth justice and prison systems are likely to be contrary to law, incompatible with Victoria’s human rights legislation, oppressive, discriminatory or simply wrong.
“In many cases we reviewed, the justification for separation seemed questionable and punitive.”
The Ombudsman made 27 recommendations to the state government earlier this month, including prohibiting solitary confinement and reviewing how young people are managed in the corrections system with the potential to relocate them out of mainstream prisons into a dedicated facility.
“Children and young people can be irrational, volatile and unable to self-regulate, presenting behaviour that is more challenging and extreme than many adults,” Ms Glass said.
“The scientific evidence is compelling that young people, until 25-years-old are still developing physically, neurologically and socially. It is why solitary confinement on children and young people poses such a serious risk of long-term harm.”
