Hylton Quail implores WA’s north to follow Fitzroy Crossing to keep kids out of court

One of the State’s top judges claims youth crime in WA’s north can be fixed “almost overnight” with intensive community supervision - but he’s warned more support is needed to keep kids out of his court. Hylton Quail said “failed parenting” is a major cause, but that “community policing” needs to be stepped up to solve it. The Children’s Court President made the rare comments as he joined the State’s Chief Justice Pete Quinlan for a tour of the Kimberley, hosted by former Attorney-General John Quigley. Judge Quail has previously lashed the State Government — that Mr Quigley was part of — over conditions in juvenile detention and described the notorious Unit 18 as “barbaric”. Speaking from Halls Creek, he said there’s been drastic improvement since 2023. “We are very fortunate compared to some of the juvenile justice debate in the Eastern States,” he said. “We had the juvenile justice detention crisis. Now we’re running it today, I think there’s 70 kids in (Banksia Hill). We had it down over winter to about 60. And the sky hasn’t fallen in. The crime rate is still dropping, even though we don’t have as many kids locked up. “Intensively supervising them in the community has worked, provided we’ve got the resources to do it.” Youth crime in the Kimberley was thrust back into the spotlight last week, when eight children — as young as 10 — were charged over a crime spree in Kununurra. Judge Quail revealed he came face to face with the accused, on the night of the alleged crime. “I knew it was happening because they knocked on my door where I was staying, so I understand how that can be pretty disconcerting,” Judge Quail revealed. “I shouted out, and they ran away.” Footage that followed, of an allegedly stolen car being used to chase police, shocked WA. But statistics show that, Statewide, crime rates have fallen. There were 5,956 offenders aged between 10 and 17 in WA in 2023-24, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics — down five per cent on the previous year. But some Kimberley towns are faring better than others. “The biggest challenge that we still face, across the board, is disengagement with high schooling,” Judge Quail said. “All the kids we’re seeing (in court) finished primary school, and then they completely disengage at high school level. And the Department of Education has not solved this problem.” According to WA Police figures, total offences increased six per cent in Kununurra in 2024-25 and were up 25 per cent in Halls Creek. In Fitzroy Crossing, however, the crime rate fell 22 per cent. The result is no accident says Judge Quail. “Where you have, in a community, everybody working on the same page to address youth crime, the causes of it, and to provide services which step in to address the fundamental problem, which is failed parenting . . . you can make a difference almost overnight,” he said. “But community policing in Halls Creek and in Kununurra does not exist in the way that it does in Fitzroy Crossing. “And so we are seeing continuing and, in some places, increased youth crime in those towns. And that trend is apparent everywhere we went.” It’s why Former Attorney-General John Quigley is backing the Marra Worra Worra Aboriginal Corporation’s bid to expand it’s Night Space program from Fitzroy Crossing to Halls Creek. And he’s won support from the judicial benches. “Where you deliver these programs, they work. So I would like to see something like this in every town,” Judge Quail said. “The reality is that in a lot of these communities, there are high levels of family domestic violence and alcohol abuse within the home. A lot of the kids are wandering around town trying to escape that. “They haven’t had a feed, and in some places steal cars, break into houses, sometimes to get food, sometimes for the thrill of it. “Where you can, at night in particular, engage them, give them things to do, give them a feed, give them some positive feedback. That’s where the crime rates are going down.” In Parliament, Premier Roger Cook has previously said he is “particularly fond” of the program. But Marra Worra Worra’s application to buy 20 transportable units, used during the recovery from the Kimberley floods in 2023, has stalled since July. “There’s a hostel in Derby and the Aboriginal corporation down there have got school attendance up to 85%. We want to replicate that in Fitzroy,” Mr Quigley said. “We’re just saying our prayers that Premier Cook will see the way to sell us 20 units and we will make a huge difference. “They’ll then double-bunk to provide mid-week accommodation for up to 40 Aboriginal students, who can come in from the remote communities around Fitzroy and re-engage with education.” The Department of Housing and Works has 110 temporary units available to be repurposed, but said the process is yet to conclude and couldn’t say when a decision will be made. The State Budget included $6 million for a Night Space in Kununurra, aiming to open mid-next year. A night patrol operates in Halls Creek, but Mr Quigley said a drop-in centre or school hostel would have immediate impact. And he’s won backing from Chief Justice Peter Quinlan too, after a 650 kilometre road trip through Fitzroy Crossing, Halls Creek, Warmun and Kununurra. “Fitzroy has seen, as we understand from the local police, a dramatic reduction in youth crime in the town,” he said. “So we wanted to see what was responsible for that, what might be replicated in other places. “You see these kids, and they are all potential, they just sing potential. And we’ve just got to find better ways to harness that potential.” Both judges measured every word carefully to avoid weighing too much into politics, but made it clear early intervention is best. “We don’t control budgets, we don’t control programs. We’re not policy makers,” Justice Quinlan said. “We’re not here to be directing how things to be run, but we can come and see and observe.” He’s promised to return, but will need to refresh his Uno-playing skills first: “I was getting thrashed by the Fitzroy Crossing kids!” Kids who, both judges said, are often dealt a tough hand. “You’ve got all of the opportunity, and all of the opportunity for things to go wrong, in the earliest times, in those early years of people’s lives,” Justice Quinlan said. “It’s an invigorating thing to be able to see that there are things that are done, that work that provides hope for kids in areas that have very often been, for one reason or another, off the radar of people in the cities. “We need to be active about putting them on our radars.”