Question Time

CAVAN TRAINING CENTRE

Mrs REDMOND (Heysen—Leader of the Opposition) (14:13): I only hope that the improved behaviour means answers to our questions. My question is to the Premier: will the Premier explain how it is possible for a facility which is being used to secure offenders who are considered dangerous to have such poor security that eight such offenders simply walk out?

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL (Cheltenham—Premier, Minister for State Development) (14:13): I thank the honourable member for her question. It is, of course, an important question. It is unacceptable that facilities that are there for the detention of offenders of any sort enable them to escape that detention. It is a fundamental principle of detention that it remain secure. We, of course, have the same questions, and that is why we have immediately commissioned an inquiry.

The Minister for Communities and Social Inclusion has requested that the Department for Correctional Services, which has expertise in relation to this area but which is not directly involved because the facility actually comes within the province of the Minister for Communities and Social Inclusion, should undertake a review of the Department for Communities and Social Inclusion's management of the incident.

The events leading up to the escape, the response to the escape and a review of the facility's security will form key aspects of the review. This investigation has already commenced and will be headed by Bill Kelsey, Manager, Intelligence and Investigation Unit of DCS, under an agreed terms of reference.

What I can say to assist members of this place is that fortunately seven of the eight escapees have been apprehended, and they have now been returned to detention; of course, there still remains one we are looking for. My message to members of the community who may have suspicions about a person who may be in this category is that they should not approach them, they should contact the police and the police will attend to the matter.

I do not want to say too much that could prejudice the investigation but I want to give the house the information that we have. It appears that there was an incident that occurred with one aspect of the unit which caused a number of staff at the unit to go to that area. During that period, a number of the young people who had already pre-prepared an escape route by using a cutting material through the fence, were able to pass through that fence. I do not have the complete details yet but that is my preliminary advice.

It is worth saying that the staffing levels at the unit were a full complement on that evening. It is also worth saying that the particular facility was not at full capacity so there should have been ample staff to be able to maintain, securely, those young people who were in that facility. We will, of course, carefully review the circumstances of this escape and act on any of the recommendations that flow from it.