DARK SECRETS: Banksia hill - The Real Truth

Youth facility 'improved' despite rooftop stand-off

A youth detention centre where six inmates climbed onto a roof during a stand-off with authorities has improved in recent years, a government minister says.

AAP · Nov 25, 2025

Reform thwarted at jail with 'racist' culture: inquest

A senior public servant faced barriers "way beyond what I imagined" when he tried to turn around a trouble-plagued youth detention centre.

AAP · Dec 5, 2024

High security centre to be 'world's best' youth prison

A new 30-bed, $100 million youth detention facility will be "the best of its kind in the world", the WA Government says.

AAP · Sep 26, 2024

WA government illegally held three teenage detainees in prolonged lockdowns, court rules

Lockdowns for total of 167 days for three juveniles were effectively ‘solitary confinement’, WA supreme court finds

The Guardian - AU · Jul 11, 2023

Rat-plagued WA youth detention centre in ‘acute crisis’

Perth's Banksia Hill youth detention centre is in a state of emergency with unprecedented staff shortages and frequent lockdowns.

The New Daily · Jun 8, 2023

Filthy and overrun with rats: Banksia Hill detention centre in ‘acute crisis’, inspector finds

‘Every element’ of the facility is failing, with young people confined to cells for long periods of time due to staffing shortages, the report says

The Guardian - AU · Jun 8, 2023

Banksia Hill Detention Centre guards lack working with children qualifications, union says

The Department of Justice is accused of allowing prison guards to work in youth detention centres without valid working with children checks, as an expert warns of a "legal minefield" over other missing qualifications.

ABC News · Jun 4, 2023

Mother of teen assaulted at Banksia Hill slams government over lack of communication on her son

A Banksia Hill detainee who was assaulted by a guard last year was allegedly put in the controversial "fold up" restraint months after it was banned, as his mother blasts authorities for not keeping her informed on her son.

ABC News · May 19, 2023

‘Horrific’ allegations by WA youth detainees detail sexually inappropriate behaviour and excessive force

Greens MP says letters tabled in parliament allege young people ‘enduring worse conditions than … farm animals’ at Banksia Hill and Casuarina facilities

The Guardian - AU · May 19, 2023

Fresh claims of violence, abuse in youth detention

Dozens of complaint letters allege youths in detention have been subjected to excessive use of force and sexualised language by custodial officers.

AAP · May 19, 2023