Page 4018 - Week 12 - Wednesday, 30 November 2022
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young people in Bimberi and provides trend data to monitor performance against operational indicators.
The number of young people detained in Bimberi on an average day has increased slightly when compared to last financial year’s average, up from 10 young people in 2020-21 to 12 young people in 2021-22. Expectedly, there has also been an increase in the total number of custody days served by young people when compared to the previous financial year.
Like so many other workplaces, Bimberi’s workforce has had to endure the impacts of COVID-19 and a strong job market. A robust recruitment strategy has supported Bimberi in maintaining reliable workforce numbers. Three recruitment rounds have been held in 2022. This year, 13 youth workers have joined the Bimberi team with another seven currently undertaking their induction training.
Even with an increase in the number of young people in detention on an average day and an increase in custody days, the number of incidents remains stable and the number of assaults and the number of uses of force both decreased. There were no category 1 incidents in 2021-22 and there were 92 category 2 incidents—the same number as last financial year.
The number of assaults by young people against staff and other young people decreased, down from 16 assaults in 2020-21 to 11 assaults in 2021-22. The number of uses of force also decreased, down from 157 uses of force in 2020-21 to 108 in 2021-22. It is important to recognise that young people coming into Bimberi are often experiencing multiple complexities. Bimberi staff do an incredible job working with these young people to keep them safe in custody and support their rehabilitation.
We did see an increase in the number of operational lockdowns at Bimberi, when compared to 2020-21, up from 10 lockdowns to 22. The increase in lockdowns was due to COVID-19 impacts on the operations of the centre and staffing capacity. The lockdowns allowed for staff to have meal breaks while maintaining the safe operations of the centre. The number of lockdowns in 2021-22 is still significantly lower than 2019-20.
As I mentioned when tabling the 9th Bimberi Headline Indicator Report, in May 2022, the team at Bimberi has been working hard to keep young people in their care safe and minimise the impacts of COVID-19 on the centre and its operations. All young people entering Bimberi are being placed on health segregation while precautionary COVID-19 testing can be carried out by Justice Health Services. This has led to a significant increase in health segregations when compared to previous years. There were 82 health segregation directions made in 2021-22. In addition, there were two safety and security segregations made in the same period.
An important component of each young person’s time at Bimberi is their participation in education, training, recreation and rehabilitation programs. During the 2021-22 financial year, 100 per cent of young people residing at Bimberi engaged in educational programs and participated in accredited programs, including Year 10, Year 12, Certificate II in General Education, Certificate II in Horticulture and Road Ready. The young people that I have spoken to out at Bimberi have told me every
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