West Australia versus

West Java Juvenile

13th January 2015

Kutoarjo Juvenile

Who am I?

My background is appx 40 years in Oil & Gas

Exploration.
I have lived between Australia and Indonesia for
some twenty (25) years and my wife is a very patient
and understanding lady from Tasik.
Justice of the Peace (JP) in Western Australia
Hon. Secretary of the Western Australia
Australia Indonesia Business Council (AIBC)
Director of Social & Politics for The Indonesian
Institute
Prior to my involvement as an IPV & JP, I have had no
prior involvement with social and/or political
advocacy for anyone or anything. I have no political
orientation or preference

Justice of the Peace (JP)

In city: run Traffic; Restraining Order and
Prison courts. In country 2 * JP =
Magistrate
Approve : Prosecution Notices except for Police
Search Warrants
Freezing Orders
Bail & Surety
Certify Documents / Affidavits /
Statutory Declarations etc.

Independent Prison Visitor

Independent Prison Visitor (IPV) working with The
Inspector of Custodial Services, Prof Neil Morgan.
www.oics.wa.gov.au
The Inspector is the Independent overseer of all WA
prisons etc.. Reports to Parliament not the Minister. Carries
out tri-annual inspections which are published on-line
I visit Hakea (Adult Max Security Remand), Albany
(Adult Max Security) and Banksia Hills Detention
Centre.
Go anywhere, at any time and speak with anyone without
let or hindrance. Criminal offense to block the execution
of our duties.
Voluntary No pay but travel expenses.

 Banksia Hill Detention Centre is the sole

custodial facility for young offenders in Western
Australia. It accommodates arrestees and
remandees as young as 10 years of age, and as
old as 19 or 20, completing a juvenile detention
sentence.
It is based in Perth, thousands of kilometres
from its main intake,
WA continues to have the highest level of
juvenile incarceration in Australia outside the
Northern Territory and by far the highest rate of
Aboriginal juvenile detention in the whole
country.
Aboriginals make up 70%+ of the overall
population

 Over a third of detainees, including some very

young children, come from Regional WA and are
disconnected from their family and culture.
40% of juveniles are held on remand, double the
Adult remand figure.
50%+ of Children in WA detention are
under the care of the Dept. of Child
Protection.
Est 80%+ of Girls and 70%+ of boys have been
physically and/or sexually abused
Many crimes are drug related,
methamphetamine, petrol, glue with permanent
damage to the children.
Many children born damaged, foetal-alcohol/drug
syndrome.

Banksia Hills Detention

Centre

Accommodation Block

Yeeda Residential Unit

Population

Cost 1

Cost 2

Recidivism Rate v Age

Recidivism 2

West Java versus WA

WA population approx. 2.5 million with
220 children in detention, ratio: 0.088
per 1,000
West Java approx. 45 million with 400
children in detention, ratio 0.0088 per
1,000.
A tenth of WA
BUT Recidivism in WA 70%+, in West Java
marginal. WHY?

WHY 1?
Indonesians believe:- Every child comes
with the message that God is not yet
discouraged of man Rabindranath Tagore.
Westerners believe:- Children should be
seen, not heard.
In Australia, as Northern Territory Chief
Magistrate Hilary Hannam stated, Politicians
are repeatedly opting for populist
measures to deal with young offenders
that please voters, but ignored the need
to deal with (the reasons behind) the
very high rates of incarceration.

Why 2?
In Indonesia discipline and security is enforced but there is a
clear understanding that the needs of the child need to be
identified addressed and remedied and that by simply
locking a youngster away will not achieve the desired
outcomes.
The emphasis in Indonesia is to return the child to his family
and community and truly rehabilitate by addressing the
core needs of the child and his wider social sphere.
Indonesia, unlike Australia, has a culture that embraces a
sense of belonging (to a family or community) that children
crave a need as they develop.
Australia embraces a policy of retribution and revenge,
where society as a whole is pre-eminent, the rights of the
child are very secondary.
Safety And Security (SAS) motto, no rehabilitation.

Real Restorative Justice

Formal Definition: restorative justice
can be deemed as a form of legal
settlement through (re)harmonizing or
resolving the relationship between the
victim, the perpetrator and society.
I prefer to define practical Restorative
Justice as Restoring the child to his
family and/or community.
Without external, caring, support there is
nothing to anchor the child and for sure he
will continue to re-offend.

 I clearly remember one child saying, after I

congratulated him of going home in two days,
I asked, Where will you stay?
Ill stay with my Aunt for a few days
Why so short?
Too much grog in the house
What will you do then? Go to Forest Place
(inner city shopping centre) and get myself
returned here, i.e. someone will be hurt, or
property damaged so the child could find safe
accommodation.
Another returned to Banksia begging to get in!. His
mother had sliced his arm and the wound had
become infected, he had no place else to turn!

While your sons sleep soundly in their home, another similar aged child will sleep on a solid concrete base, with only a thin blanket
to provide warmth and comfort. The only other furnishing will be a stainless steel toilet. He will spend his 80 th night in this room,
with no television, no human interface except quick visits to provide powerful psycho-narcotic drugs and basic food. Nothing.

Cause of a Riot
Treat Children badly and as the Inspector
said in his report, the results (in this case
the Banksia Riot) are entirely predictable.
Children locked up, alone for 23 hours a day.
Meals in cells.
Cells non-air conditioned but temperature
35+
No staff interaction
Many far from home, family in-difference or
in prison. So no visits or contact

Riot Missiles

Unit Damage

Not Optimal BUT Acceptable

[2013] WASC 157 : SUPREME COURT OF WESTERN
AUSTRALIA
The current arrangements at Hakea with respect to
education, recreation, remedial programmes and visits are
acknowledged by all to be less than optimal. Persistent
staff shortages result in a daily schedule in which
detainees are locked downfor 23 hours each day,
extensive use of physical restraints (flexible handcuffs)
and
strip searching, that is, four times in the space of what
may be a short visit to Banksia Hill. In addition, detainees
are strip searched before leaving a detention centre to go
to court, and again when returning after court. Further,
following the riot, at Hakea it was the practice to strip
search detainees both before and after each social visit.

 It seems clear that there were difficulties with both the

quality and the quantity of the food provided to
detainees in the period following their transfer to Hakea.
The food was provided in individual serves from a central
catering department. By the time it was delivered to the
detainees in Units 11 and 12, it was unappetising.
Detainees also complained that the quantity of food
provided was insufficient
the opportunities for recreation were virtually nonexistent.
no opportunity for the provision of education to
detainees at Hakea.
no facilities available for the delivery of remedial
programmes
limited psychological resources available has meant
that the psychological counselling services, such as
forensic counselling, previously provided to detainees have
not been available

 It is well established that the provisions of an

international treaty to which Australia is a party do not
form part of Australian law unless those provisions
have been validly incorporated into our municipal law by
statute.
Accordingly, if a legislature chooses to legislate in terms
which are inconsistent with Australia's international
obligations, as a matter of domestic law it is free to do so
United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the
Administration of Juvenile Justice 1985), the United
Nation Rules for the Protection of Juveniles Deprived of
Their Liberty 1990), and the United Nations Guidelines
for the Prevention of Juvenile Delinquency 1990. The
international instruments do not form part of the law
of Western Australia and can only be of assistance if
and to the extent that they assist in the resolution of an
ambiguity in the law of Western Australia.

 In my opinion, lockdowns of this magnitude

against children, and particularly very young
children, is inhumane.
Children's Court Judge Denis Reynolds
The situation has also shocked WA's independent
inspector of custodial services, Neil Morgan.
"Of course I have a problem, everybody has a
problem. Children don't belong in an adult
prison,"
At the end of the day, they are children. The aim
of having them in a detention centre is to
rehabilitate them, not break them. Lawyer Ben
Tyers

Hakea Prison Cells

Hakea Health Centre

Smoking Shed

Hen Farm

New Unit Cell

New Unit

New Unit Dining

Prison Transport

19yo first-time male prisoner raped in Hakea Prison

in Perth while on remand
A 19-year-old first-time male prisoner has been raped by two male inmates at maximum security Hakea
Prison in Perth.
The ABC understands the victim was on remand and it was the first time he had been to prison, he had only
been in Hakea for about two weeks when the incident occurred.
The Department of Corrective Services today confirmed it had referred the matter to police for investigation.
The ABC understands the victim is still in Hakea but has been moved into a special protection unit.
After the incident, staff from WA's emergency rape crisis centre, known as SARC (Sexual Assault Resource
Centre), went into the prison to respond.
Corrective Services Minister Joe Francis said sexual assault was unacceptable and the "very serious matter"
had been referred to WA Police.
Opposition corrective services spokesman Paul Papalia said he was horrified by the case.
"This is a shocking incident and it's confirmation that our prisons are massively overcrowded under the
Barnett Government," he said.
"Overcrowded prisons are dangerous for prison officers and other staff, they are compromised and less likely
to change the behaviour of prisoners and they are very dangerous for vulnerable prisoners who may not be
serious offenders at all."
In a statement the Department of Corrective Services said the incident at Hakea, as with any report of sexual
assault at one of its facilities, would be treated seriously and sensitively.
"The prisoner concerned was seen by prison medical staff and provided with counselling and support," it
said.
"There is no direct relationship between prisoner numbers and incidents of physical assault."
The statement said the security and safety of all prisoners was a priority and the department employed a
range of procedures to mitigate violence.

Family fury at prisoners death

The family of a man who died in Royal Perth

Hospital last week while under Department of
Corrective Services care say he would still be alive
if he had received proper medical help in jail.
Anthony Nigel Axtell, 38, a father of three, was on
remand when he was taken to Hakea Prison this
year.
His brother Darren claimed that jail authorities
had declined initially to allow his brother access to
his medication, resulting in his serious heart
condition getting worse. A department spokesman
said it was being treated as a death in custody.

Prisoner loses good portion of hand after jail treatment

A WA prisoner who lost a portion of his hand after receiving incorrect
medical treatment in jail "could have been a death in custody", according
to his lawyer.
On Monday, Stanley Malcolm Douglas Farmer appeared in Perth
Magistrates Court via video link from Hakea prison represented by Kim
Farmer.
His left arm was in a sling and his hand bandaged, and the court was told
Mr Farmer had recently been released from Royal Perth Hospital where "a
good portion" of his hand was removed.
The court heard that while at Hakea, Mr Farmer sought medical treatment
after burning his hand but, rather than treating the injury as a burn,
medical officers lanced the wound, resulting in an infection.
Ultimately the infection got so bad Ms Farmer said he was rushed to RPH,
where he underwent surgery to remove part of his hand.
She said Mr Farmer would be permanently disabled by his injuries, may
have to undergo more surgery, and runs the risk of losing his left thumb
and index finger.
'I thought about getting a razor and cutting myself up so I could
see a doctor'