The Don Dale Youth Detention Centre has become emblematic of the complex interplay

between individual rights and the imperatives of the state within the context of juvenile justice.
This facility, originally designed to rehabilitate young offenders, garnered widespread attention
due to allegations of severe human rights abuses. The question that looms over Don Dale's
troubling history is the extent to which the law manages to strike a delicate balance between
safeguarding the rights of the individual and fulfilling the responsibilities of the state. This
juxtaposition invites us to explore how societies grapple with upholding fundamental human
rights while also meeting the demands of maintaining public order and protecting the welfare of
their citizens, as well as seeing the major difference between rehabilitation, what inmates were
said to have been helped with, and punishment, what they actually went through. The Don Dale
case underscores the critical need to examine the intricate interrelation between individual rights
and the state's imperatives, urging us to reflect on the limited extent to which the law balanced
the rights of the children compared to the state.

Don Dale garnered international attention for its egregious human rights violations, shedding
light on the delicate balance between individual rights and the state's responsibilities. The 2016
"Four Corners" investigative documentary (ABC, 2016) exposed the extent to which the rights of
young detainees were trampled upon in the pursuit of maintaining order within the facility. Article
5 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) states that no one shall be subjected to
torture or to cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment. Clearly, looking back at the
documentary, there is photographic and video evidence of this right being infringed on.
Instances of physical abuse, extensive gassing, extended solitary confinement, and a disregard
for the dignity and privacy of inmates In the documentary, CCTV footage from the solitary
confinement ward of Don Dale, where six boys were kept in for more hours than legally obliged,
shows 10 bursts of tear gas being sprayed into the enclosed area over the space of one and a
half minutes. All six of those boys were exposed to the tear gas, but only one of them was
actually out of his cell due to a staff member forgetting to lock his cell up. The 14-year-old boy
who escaped, Jack Roper, could be heard repeatedly asking the staff how long he had been in
isolation and requesting to talk to the staff. Instead of negotiating with him, the prison staff can
be clearly heard laughing and mocking him and going to the lengths of calling the helpless boy
"an idiot" and a "little f**ker". These violations underscore the need for comprehensive legal
frameworks that not only uphold the rights of individuals but also hold the state accountable for
any infringements upon those rights, as when questioned about the horrors of that night, former
corrections commissioner Ken Middlebrook stated, "I am not in the business of overuse of force.
There were two sprays from an aerosol in the area. Now it wasn’t an overuse of gas. This not
only proved that he was backing up the prison staff, it also proved that he never cared about
making these boys better. Furthermore, it showcased the limited extent to which the law
balanced the rights of individuals with the needs of the state, as the basic human rights of the
juveniles weren’t even in question as they were treated horribly and had all their rights stripped
from them.

Similarly, the Don Dale case also mirrors a broader discourse about the conflicting paradigms of
rehabilitation and punishment within the criminal justice system. The mistreatment of youth
detainees raises questions about the effectiveness of punitive measures in achieving the goals
of deterrence and societal protection. Empirical evidence suggests that rehabilitative
approaches tend to yield better outcomes for youth offenders in terms of reducing recidivism
and fostering positive behavioural change. Advocates of rehabilitation argue that the state's role
extends beyond mere punishment to nurturing productive members of society. They point to
successful models that prioritise education, counseling, and skill development as means to
address the underlying causes of criminal behaviour. Not only was unnecessary force used on
every single inmate, but there were claims of sexual abuse and explicit proof of physical abuse.
The use of a spit hood and a restraint chair, which looked terrifyingly similar to an electric chair,
was also used on the longest-serving juvenile, Dylan Voller. He was left in a room all by himself,
his arms, feet, chest, and neck restrained to a chair while a spit hood was over his head.
Mr.Voller went to court two years after the ‘Four Corner’s’ documentary, wanting the Don Dale
Youth Detention Centre closed, which was recommended to be closed by the Royal Commision
in Recommendation 10.2, which stated, "The Northern Territory Government close the current
Don Dale Youth Detention Centre... (Royal Commision, 2017), after the prime minister at the
time, Malcom Turnball, called the royal commision due to the abuse happening at Don Dale.
Mr.Voller stated, "They’re not bad kids. They’ve made terrible mistakes, and they need help.
They’re not getting help in there. (SBS, 2018). The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child
emphasises the importance of rehabilitation and reintegration for juvenile offenders to ensure
their physical, psychological, and social well-being. Dondale was created to allow juveniles to be
taught how to live in society, but instead of the rehabilitation they deserved, they were faced with
months of torment. A youth by the name of Kenny Rogan expressed in his interview in the Four
Corners documentary that, "You get too used to being in the cell after a while. I used to do all
that stuff. And when you come out here into the community, it doesn’t feel right. That's why most
of the boys are already there by a month or so. Kenny Rogan is explicitly saying that Don Dale
has not done what they said they would, due to the fact that all the inmates who are finally let
out come back to Don Dale because they weren’t taught the ways of society. However,
proponents of punitive measures emphasise the need to hold individuals accountable for their
actions and send a clear deterrent message to potential offenders. This perspective contends
that accountability is pivotal in upholding the rule of law and maintaining social order, especially
in cases involving serious offences, but so many different approaches could have been taken in
order to give these boys the help they need and deserve, additionally adding to the idea of the
limited extent to which the law balanced the rights of individuals with the needs of the state.

Conclusively, the Don Dale Youth Detention Centre serves as a stark reminder of the intricate
dynamics between individual rights and state needs. Through the lenses of human rights
violations and accountability, as well as the ongoing discourse between rehabilitation and
punishment, the case evokes a call for comprehensive reform. Achieving this equilibrium
necessitates recalibrating the balance to prioritise justice, accountability, and the holistic
well-being of young offenders, thus ensuring a more harmonious and just society.