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More than 100 children who have previously been held in Western Australia’s youth detention centres have made a litany of allegations about sexual abuse they allegedly suffered while in the state’s care, including rape at the hands of youth custodial officers and abuse by other detainees.
The 33-page complaint, lodged by law firm Levitt and Robinson and viewed by this masthead, includes allegations made by 87 boys and 13 girls from detention facilities across WA spanning 30 years between 1999 and 2019.
More than 50 of those involved in the complaint have “verifiable and detailed” stories, according to Levitt and Robinson, which is also running class actions relating to WA’s notorious Banksia Hill and Unit 18 in the Federal Court of Australia.
The complaint outlined three particularly harrowing stories from juvenile detainees, including allegations made against youth custodial officers, fellow detainees and even a medical officer across remand facilities, Banksia Hill, Hakea Prison and other locations in WA.
Some of the institutions have previously been included in the National Redress Scheme following the Royal Commission into Institutional Child Abuse.
One boy told lawyers he had been forced to shower in front of a youth custodial officer, who allegedly went on to rape him.
The child alleged the officer would then deliberately listen in on the detainee’s phone calls to ensure he could not disclose the abuse to his family, and later inappropriately touched him during a strip search and made comments about his body.
Another boy alleged he had been woken in his bed one night at a facility in the state’s south by other detainees, who raped him. The incident prompted him to ask to change facilities.
Another boy, who was 17 at the time, said he objected to a strip search, as he had been a victim of sexual abuse previously and did not feel comfortable with the procedure.
“The youth custodial officers replied to with words to the effect of ‘bad luck, take your clothes off or we will take them off by force’. [Redacted] stood there petrified, naked and crying, repeating to [officers] that he was a victim of sexual abuse,” the complaint reads.
“The [officers] stood there laughing at [redacted].”
Ultimately, lawyers said it appeared the running of the state’s detention centres had also made the children more vulnerable to sexual assault, including the practice of double-bunking – detainees sharing the same room – “black spots” in the centres that were not monitored by CCTV, and strip-searches.
Levitt and Robinson partner Dana Levitt said she had interviewed detainees herself, and noted “clusters” of abuse which would often implicate the same perpetrators from alleged victims who did not know each other.
“From my investigations, these detainees do not appear to have known each other and were not in detention during intersecting periods,” she said.
Levitt said there had also been evidence some children had been induced to provide sexual favours to officers, or they would be threatened with solitary confinement for indefinite periods.
“This was even more unconscionable, given the knowledge that [custodial officers] and medical officers had of the intellectual and emotional disabilities of many of their young victims,” she said.
Levitt and Robinson said the complainants were often vulnerable not only because of their age, but because of their race, disabilities, and the fact they were under the guardianship of the state. Many of the complainants were Indigenous.
The representative complaint has been filed with the Australian Human Rights Commission, as a notice about a potential class action moving forward.
A spokesman for the Department of Justice said it took the safety and wellbeing of young people in its care very seriously.
“As these matters are the subject of ongoing legal processes, it would be inappropriate to comment at this time,” he said.
“The department works closely with relevant oversight bodies, and where necessary WA police, to ensure appropriate accountability and continuous improvement.”
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