Cleveland Dodd inquest: New corrections commissioner views on international obligations ‘deeply disturbing’

The new Corrective Services commissioner installed in the wake of Cleveland Dodd’s death has left the coroner’s lawyer “deeply disturbed” by his comments on Australia’s international human rights obligations. Brad Royce testified at the 16-year-old’s expedited inquest on Wednesday that he was bound by State legislation around solitary confinement but not by three separate international sets of minimum standards for detainees that Australia is signatory to. “I’m not saying they’re not relevant but I’m not bound by them,” Mr Royce told counsel assisting the coroner Anthony Crocker, describing the rules as common sense. “I suggest that is a fundamentally flawed point of view that you think international obligations are common sense but you don’t have to comply with them,” the lawyer replied. “I would suggest that is so fundamentally wrong that it is profoundly disturbing.” Mr Royce was pressed on his stance again and responded: “I must comply with legislation and I should comply with international standards ... we should always be trying to be the best we could be”. Two Supreme Court rulings in 2022 and 2023 deemed prolonged periods that WA’s juvenile detainees were being kept in their cells unlawful, with youths not getting out of their cells at all on some days. Mr Royce said he was confident that hadn’t continued this calendar year, excluding perhaps in January and February. November — the month after Cleveland died in Unit 18 — had been the “worst month of everything” but his team had done its best to “turn that around” and be compliant with State legislation, he testified. Mr Royce also poured cold water on the suggestion that work on the Jasper unit at Banksia Hill Detention Centre could be fast-tracked and Unit 18 closed, saying he preferred a new facility being pursued. “My advice to the Government would be to retain Unit 18,” he said. “It’s going to be there for a number of years. “I’ll do my best to keep it safe.” The business case for a new facility is not yet complete and Mr Royce accepted construction would take two to five years.