Australian Human Rights Commission Current issues and good practices in prison management, 16 November 2023 32. In October 2023, 16-year-old Aboriginal youth, Cleveland Dodd, became the first death of a young person in Western Australian custody. A few months prior to his death, the Western Australian Inspector of Custodial Services had reported (June 2023) that the young people detained at Unit 18 at Casuarina Prison, had ‘spent a considerable amount of time secured in their cell’.52 In that same report the Inspector reiterated it had ‘previously observed a correlation between extended time spent in cell and incidents of self-harm by young people’.53 2.5 Overrepresentation of people with disability 33. The Commission remains concerned about the high number of people with disability in Australian prisons. As noted by the Disability Royal Commission in October 2022, ‘[p]eople with intellectual, cognitive and psychosocial disabilities are overrepresented in the criminal justice system’ and, ‘are more likely to have difficulty coping with the prison environment and to experience a higher rate of comorbid mental health disorders and physical conditions … increased risk of being disadvantaged and socially isolated… [and] also at higher risk of returning to custody’.54 34. In its Final Report, the Disability Royal Commission stated that: It is clear from the evidence that the disproportionate rate of imprisonment of people with disability is not the result of any inherent causal relationship between disability and crime. Rather it reflects the disadvantages experienced by many people with disability, such as poverty, disrupted family backgrounds, family violence and other forms of abuse, misuse of drugs and alcohol, unstable housing and homelessness.55 35. The Disability Royal Commission assessed that approximately 40% of people entering prison in Australia have a mental health condition, and that people with cognitive disability who have more than one disability have the highest rates of contact with the criminal justice system.56 36. The Disability Royal Commission also noted that ‘relatively little attention has been paid by governments to the disproportionate number of people with cognitive disability who are in custody’.57 Governments generally relied heavily on self-reporting during face-to-face screening interviews and regarding First Nations prisoners, no agencies use a culturally-validated screening tool.58 37. Furthermore, the Disability Royal Commission also identified that no agencies ‘collect or record adequate data about disability among their prison and youth detention populations. This means they cannot identify the prevalence, types and degree of disability among these populations, nor their support needs.’59 9