Media release: Use of force, separation, segregation and confinement in Juvenile Justice

23 November 2018

The Inspector of Custodial Services has released a report on the use of force; separation, segregation and confinement in Juvenile Justice. The report is the result of inspections required to be carried out in accordance with the Inspector of Custodial Services Act 2012 (The Act).

The Act requires each juvenile justice centre in NSW to be inspected once every three years. Terms of Reference for the Inspection were issued on 24 June 2016. Expanded terms of reference were issued in November 2016, following a request by the Minister for Corrections to include the use of separation, segregation and confinement in Juvenile Justice.

The report has involved multiple visits to all Juvenile Justice centres in NSW, academic research, and extensive internal and external stakeholder consultation. Juvenile Justice has fully cooperated with the Inspection and many staff and young people have spoken with us on a confidential basis over the course of the Inspection.

The Inspection found that the decision of Juvenile Justice to close the Chisholm Behaviour Program (The Program) in May 2016 was correct. The Program was developed to reintegrate high risk young people between 16 and 21 years of age from the custody of Corrective Service NSW to Juvenile Justice. However, there were significant flaws in program design and a lack of governance and oversight that led to a number of young people having very little time out of their room each day for an extended period of time.

Inspector of Custodial Services, Fiona Rafter, said “There are significant lessons to be learned by Juvenile Justice from the Chisholm Behaviour Program.”

The Inspector said “Juvenile Justice staff perform a difficult job in a challenging environment. All jurisdictions grapple with the task of managing high risk young people in detention in the least restrictive way, without compromising the safety and security of staff and other young people.”

Juvenile Justice is in a significant period of reform and the report makes 60 recommendations aimed at ensuring best practice in the use of force; separation, segregation and confinement.

These include:

• enhancing staff skills by providing training to handle incidents effectively and safely
• ensuring staff are trained to work in accordance with legislation, policy and procedures
• reducing the need to use force and confinement
• ensuring young people are not placed in rooms for lengthy periods
• enhancing the monitoring and reporting of restrictive practices
• enhancing the internal and external oversight of Juvenile Justice.

The Inspector of Custodial Services was established in October 2013 to provide independent oversight of the NSW correctional system, including Corrective Services NSW and Juvenile Justice NSW.