Page 907 - Week 03 - Tuesday, 29 March 2011
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video
MSS guard who was assaulted and a failure to adequately reinforce a security deficit which had been identified.
I am very disappointed that this was the case and that these were the findings of the review. As a result of the findings of these two reviews, my department has commissioned a further independent investigation being conducted by Clayton Utz to determine whether disciplinary action is required in relation to this matter. The investigation is being conducted under the terms of the Department of Disability, Housing and Community Services enterprise agreement 2010-11. Clayton Utz has been engaged from the ACT Public Service Administrative Review and Investigations Panel 2010-13.
I will provide further information on many of the other actions that have been implemented since the incident. However, care must be exercised not to make statements or comments that might compromise the investigation underway by Clayton Utz or deny the staff involved natural justice.
I am therefore not at liberty to discuss many matters before this investigation has been adequately concluded. I can reassure members of my commitment to transparency and I understand the department has provided copies of the two reviews to the Bimberi review team conducting the human rights audit and inquiry into youth justice. Against this backdrop and acting within the legal advice my department has received, I will provide the Assembly with what information I can.
I will now provide the Assembly with the recommendations of the Keating review in their entirety. While I will not go into a minute-by-minute account of the incident that occurred that night, a few points which the Keating review found and which provide some context to the review are as follows: the two young people who broke out of their rooms and assaulted the guard had not shown any indication that they would do so prior to the event. The point of escape had been recently fortified. However, efforts to fortify this security weakness proved inadequate in the face of the significant force used by the young persons on the night of 5 February.
The MSS guard was placed in a unit and was not approved to work unsupervised as he had not completed his training. The MSS guard was not supervised, despite an experienced youth detention worker being available to do so and according to Bimberi policy.
There was a significant time lapse between the commencement of the assault and the time the incident was noticed. The exact circumstances around this are subject to further action and inquiry which is ongoing, and so I cannot discuss this further at this stage.
What the review has also found is that in relation to the incident some staff failed to comply with policies and procedures and that the extent of the incident occurred, in fact, as a result of human factors. Mr Keating found that events following the assault were relatively well managed.
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video