Linda Reynolds (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to bring to the attention of the Senate a national disgrace in how our young people in Western Australia are being treated. Imagine if you were a parent of a 12-year-old boy and you saw footage of your son being sat on by three custodial officers with another five watching on? He is silently screaming because he is struggling to breathe. This is not 200 years ago; this was last month in Western Australia. This barbaric practice, called folding up, is a restraint position that is banned, I understand, by law enforcement globally because it risks suffocation and death. Unbelievably, it has been revealed through footage that the McGowan Labor government in Western Australia is allowing this practice and so many other inappropriate and quite frankly barbaric practices to be occurring on children in our detention system.

What is almost as shocking as the revelation of this practice is the cold and callous response of our Premier, saying the system was actually 'working well'. There is no doubt that these children are incredibly challenging to manage. But, it is not only barbaric but it is counter-productive to treat any child in this way. It is no way to treat them, and it is certainly no way to rehabilitate them. Even former Labor Premier Carmen Lawrence has said that Mark McGowan's response was 'tone deaf' and it was 'insubstantial'.

There is another way. There are far more humane and far more effective ways to manage these destructive behaviours through behaviour support. These practices, done well, largely eliminate the need for physical and chemical restraint practices. They are humane and they work, and we must treat our children differently in Western Australia.