Don Dale Indigenous staff say reputations have been tarnished by colleagues' bad behaviour
Updated
Two Indigenous staff who work at Darwin's Don Dale youth detention centre say they were trying to do good work with the detainees but felt their reputation had been unfairly tarnished by the actions of some colleagues.
On Wednesday, royal commissioners Margaret White and Mick Gooda toured the former and current Don Dale facilities and for the first time saw the Behaviour Management Unit, where detainees were once held for 23 hours a day, and where six teenagers were tear-gassed in 2014.
The commissioners also met youth justice officers, who said morale among staff had been very low since the Four Corners program on Don Dale aired in July.
The episode aired footage of guards assaulting teenage detainees including Dylan Voller, who was stripped naked, tied to a mechanical restraint chair and had a hood over his head for hours at a time.
The resulting public outcry sparked the Royal Commission into the Protection and Detention of Children in the Northern Territory, and last week the new NT Labor Government outlawed the use of the restraint chair for juveniles.
"It's been hard," youth worker Luke told commissioner Gooda.
He said that after the Four Corners episode aired, "morale was rather low. I guess we've all been tarnished with the same brush".
He said a lot of the staff members involved in those incidents no longer work at the centre, but that he and youth worker Leon related to a lot of the kids and wanted to stay and work with them.
"We're what's left over, so we have to wear and cop it. I guess it's the price we pay for where we work but we actually enjoy working for the majority of these children," he said.
"It works out to be a pretty good relationship in order to keep things running smoothly, we've had a few family members as well come through."
Cells could get very hot
After the tear-gassing incident, the Don Dale youth detention centre was put out of use, and Darwin's old adult prison at Berrimah was upgraded and detainees were moved there.
Commissioner Margaret White expressed concern about a lack of privacy and no air-conditioning even in the new Don Dale. She stood in a cell in the female section and said it would get very hot with the door closed.
Superintendent Victor Williams said the centre was getting quotes to put in air-conditioning.
"But the reality is 95 per cent of young people in here don't have air-conditioning at home," he said.
"Yes, but they can get out," Ms White replied.
Current youth facility not a permanent solution
The NT Government says it is talking to the Commonwealth about funding for a new building. The ABC understands $15 million has been allocated for a new youth detention centre in Darwin.
The Government does not consider the old Berrimah prison a permanent solution for a Darwin youth detention centre, said Territory Families CEO Ken Davies.
"We've made it very clear it's an interim measure while we work out with Government what the next set of infrastructure is going to look like, but the Government has made it very clear it won't be in this particular facility," he said.
"It doesn't mean we might not use a place somewhere here or around this facility, but not in here in a permanent way."
Hearings will resume on Thursday.
Topics: child-abuse, prisons-and-punishment, law-crime-and-justice, youth, royal-commissions, nt, darwin-0800
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