Page 483 - Week 02 - Thursday, 11 February 2021
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There were 277 operational lockdowns in 2019-20, largely due to staff shortages. For several months during the 2019-20 financial year, Bimberi experienced extensive staffing shortages. These were exacerbated by unpredictable staff availability due to unplanned personal leave, the unprecedented bushfire season, and COVID-19 restrictions.
Operational lockdowns occur for the minimum amount of time possible and they occur on a rotational basis. This means that an individual young person will be in their cabin for half of the total lockdown period, generally in one or two-hour blocks of time. It is good news that, after a successful recruitment round, 17 new youth workers commenced employment in June 2020. The number of operational lockdowns has significantly reduced since these staff commenced full-time duties.
I visited Bimberi last week and was pleased to meet many of the dedicated staff and see some of the impressive artwork created by young people in the centre. As there were only a small number of young people currently detained, the staff were participating in training and development.
A skilled and available workforce will ensure that staff shortages do not result in increased use of lockdowns. The first induction training for 2020-21 was completed by four new youth workers in early December 2020. A second induction training program commenced on 18 January 2021.
The 26 August 2019 critical incident and the public health emergency in the ACT due to COVID-19 have also impacted the number of segregation directions made in 2019-20. There were 36 made in the financial year, up from two the previous year. The 36 segregation directions include 11 safety and security segregation directions, six of which were a result of the major incident in August 2019, and 25 health segregations.
Bimberi has been working closely with ACT Health to ensure the risk of COVID-19 entering the centre is minimised. As a precaution, all young people in the centre displaying symptoms of COVID-19 have been tested and 19 health segregations were issued while young people were awaiting test results. All young people tested for COVID-19 have returned a negative result.
Positively, the number of assaults is down from the past two years, with 11 assaults occurring in the 2019-20 financial year. This trend has continued a 10-year low; down from 64 assaults in 2009-10.
I am pleased to say that the number of strip-searches for young people entering detention remains low as staff continue to apply risk-based assessment of the types of searches necessary. In 2019-20, less than one per cent of young people inducted into the centre were required to participate in a strip-search. We maintain our commitment to human rights by minimising strip-searches. They may at times be necessary to protect safety by preventing dangerous items from being smuggled into the centre.
The past year has challenged our community. Nevertheless, Bimberi has continued to work with government and community organisations to deliver programs and services
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