Kariong report confirms PSA position

Date: 15 March 2000

The ombudsman's report on the Kariong Juvenile Justice Centre confirms the PSA's view that the department is inadequately resourced and was of very low priority until the political embarassment of last years riots.

The Public Service Association welcomes the Ombudsman's Report into the 1999 riots and the operations of Kariong Juvenile Justice Centre.

It confirms what this union has being saying about the problems which are systemic to the Department, from top to bottom.

The Acting-Ombudsman, Chris Wheeler, recognises that fault cannot be placed in the lap of any individual.

He describes deficiencies at every level - from head office oversight to on-the-floor management of detainees.

The whole department has to be overhauled. It has to be properly resourced, its personnel properly trained, and the objectives, policies and processes properly understood.

With regard to Kariong, which is the maximum security centre, the department has to clearly define Kariong's role and the role of staff within this role. If it remains a maximum security institution then its staff have to be given the extra specialist training needed in such an institution.

Throughout the report Mr Wheeler refers to lack of morale and the underlying lack of adequate funds.

Treasurer Egan cut $5.2 million out of the department's budget last year. The Minister Carmel Tebbutt has extracted $1.9 million for training from Treasury. We fully support her efforts.

The report recommends no disciplinary action against any staff. It recognises that the incidents that did happen have to be judged against the inadequacy of training, in particular the management of violent behaviour. Only recently has training been improved. Before that it was four days induction and then into the deep end.

It praises the staff for its conduct during the riots, where divisions and dissent were put away and there were notable acts of bravery.

If the riots last year were not enough to wake Premier Carr and Treasurer Egan from their cost-cutting dreams, perhaps this Ombudsman's report will do the job.

To make Kariong, and other juvenile justice institutions, function well requires political will from the Government and attention to the needs of detainees and staff. That cannot be done on a shoestring or with glib law and order rhetoric. And it cannot be done by finding scapegoats and shiny new managers.

Since taking over industrial coverage of Juvenile Justice workers on 1 July 1998, this union has worked to eliminate the divisions among staff at Kariong. We took them out on strike and won improvements in pay and conditions. We will continue to work for improvements.

For further information

Contact:	Dorothy Molyneux
Union:	Public Service Association of NSW
Phone:	9220 0968
Email:	dmolyneux@psa.asn.au
WWW:	http://psa.labor.net.au/

LaborNET is proudly created, designed and programmed
by Social Change Online for the Labor Council of NSW
[Credits] [Site Matters]