Department of Justice advertises for Corrective Services commissioner after fixed term for veteran cop

The Department of Justice is searching for a permanent Corrective Services boss after veteran cop Brad Royce was brought in almost one year ago in the wake of WA’s first juvenile death in detention. Mr Royce replaced Mike Reynolds as commissioner less than a week after Unit 18 detainee Cleveland Dodd died from his own hand on October 19. The media statement announcing the change — which Mr Reynolds recently told the 16-year-old’s inquest was him being scapegoated by the State Government — did not indicate Mr Royce’s appointment was a temporary arrangement. An advertisement on the jobs.wa.gov.au website shows the role is now up for grabs for a five-year term, paying $310,540 to $339,333 per annum plus superannuation. “Following an individual assessment of merit, the Commissioner for Corrective Services was directly appointed for a fixed term in October 2023 to fill an immediate gap,” the department said in a statement on Thursday. “In accordance with Public Sector Commission requirements, the position now needs to be advertised to comply with merit, equity and probity standards that apply if the position is to be filled beyond the 12-month period.” The ad lists the challenges of the job including driving reform, improving service delivery and overseeing capital works programs. Mr Royce told the inquest that his advice to the State Government would be to retain Unit 18 within the adult Casuarina Prison, which is in its third year but was promised to last just 12 months. A massive riot in May last year that caused $22 million worth of damage has been blamed for Unit 18 remaining open. “It’s going to be there for a number of years,” Mr Royce testified. “I’ll do my best to keep it safe.” WA’s second recorded death of a juvenile in detention happened at Banksia Hill Detention Centre last Thursday when a 17-year-old boy fatally self-harmed in his cell. Banksia Hill is well under capacity, with 56 detainees on Friday, while there were just four detainees at Unit 18 recently. Doug Coyne, who was superintendent when Cleveland died, conceded at the inquest that work to repair the Jasper unit at Banksia Hill could be fast-tracked so it could take Unit 18’s handful of detainees. Figures extracted in parliament show there were 12 detainees in the notorious unit on June 1 and also on July 1. Over those two months, there were 94 occasions when a detainee spent 20 or more hours confined to their cell, while at Banksia Hill, there were nil.