In the aftermath of the riot the Department adopted an extremely risk adverse approach to the management of detainees at both Banksia Hill and the newly created Hakea Juvenile Facility. This resulted in a restrictive regime of management confinement which was contrary to the legislative framework in the Young Offenders Act 1994. Although the Department faced difficult circumstances in the aftermath of the riot, the initial three week period of almost total lockdown of detainees was not reasonable and was not necessary by way of risk management.
Once the Department transferred the majority of male detainees to Hakea Prison to allow repairs and security upgrades to be undertaken at Banksia Hill the restrictive regime was loosened. However the custodial regime in place for the detainees at Hakea Juvenile Facility and Banksia Hill did not reasonably cater for the needs of young persons in detention. The amount of time detainees were spending locked in a cell remained unacceptable, the time available for education of detainees at Hakea Juvenile Facility was less than half of that previously available at Banksia Hill and there was insufficient delivery of programs, including recreation time. In addition, detainees were unreasonably subjected to routine strip searches before and after social visits.