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WA Coroner Proposes Special Inquiry Into Casuarina’s Unit 18 and Recommends Its Closure

The move comes after the justice department formally apologised for failings linked to inhumane conditions that preceded Cleveland Dodd’s death.

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Roslyn Sullivan speaks to journalists.
A barbed wire fence pictured through trees against an orange sky

Overview

  • Coroner Philip Urquhart signalled he may invoke the Public Sector Management Act to launch a wider investigation into how Unit 18 was established and run within Casuarina Prison
  • The WA Justice Department delivered a formal apology in court, expressing regret and remorse for denying basic needs and adequate support to the 16-year-old Indigenous teenager
  • Urquhart reaffirmed his provisional recommendation that Unit 18 be closed urgently until a purpose-built youth detention facility is completed, despite no budget allocation for its construction
  • Counsel Assisting presented 25 proposed reforms to address systemic failures, with the justice department supporting all but three measures, including the immediate cessation of Unit 18’s operations
  • Evidence at the resumed inquest detailed chronic staffing shortages, prolonged solitary confinement, lack of running water and delayed medical response as factors in Cleveland Dodd’s preventable demise