Indonesian prisoners — underage detainees in adult prisons
1058. Hon ALISON XAMON to the minister representing the Minister for Corrective Services:
I refer to my questions on 24 March, 17 May and 28 June 2011 raising concerns about underage detainees being kept in adult prisons.
(1) Since 2006, how many Indonesian prisoners detained in WA adult prisons for so-called people smuggling offences have later been determined to be children?
(2) Of the Indonesian prisoners currently detained in Western Australian adult prisons for so-called people smuggling offences, how many have made a claim to be underage, either themselves or through their representative?
(3) When the Department of Corrective Services has taken steps to confirm the ages of the prisoners referred to in (3) —
(a) in how many instances has the department relied solely on the information provided by the Australian Federal Police; and
(b) in how many instances has an age determination been made before a court of law?
(4) Has the department looked at different methods for determining the age of detainees; and, if so, what methods were considered, and what were the department’s findings?
Hon SIMON O’BRIEN replied:
I thank the honourable member for some notice of this question.
(1)–(4) It is not possible to provide the information in the required time frame. The member is requested to put the question on notice.