Banksia Hill detainees are learning how to save lives, search for missing people and put out fires thanks to a ground-breaking emergency services pilot program.
For the first time, emergency services career and volunteer officers are working with the detainees at Banksia Hill on a Youth in Emergency Services cadet program.
As part of the six-week program, the detainees are taking part in mock land searches, firefighting exercises and learning first aid techniques led by experienced personnel.
The Banksia Hill detainees will be taught how to abseil, tie basic knots, and how to read maps and navigation instruments.
More than 140 Department of Fire and Emergency Services personnel have signed up to deliver the program at the Banksia Hill Juvenile Detention Centre in Canning Vale.
Emergency services participating in the program include the State Emergency Service, Volunteer Fire and Rescue Service, Volunteer Fire and Emergency Service, Urban Search and Rescue Taskforce and the Volunteer Marine Rescue Service.
The pilot program started on May 17 and runs for a six-week period, three times a year.
As stated by Emergency Services and Corrective Services Minister Francis Logan:
“Banksia Hill has come along in leaps and bounds, and this pilot program is another fantastic initiative for the detainees to help turn their lives around.
“These detainees are not only learning important skills that will benefit them personally, but they are learning what it is to be a productive member of a community.
“Many of these detainees have not had the opportunity to learn what it means to be part of a community, and volunteering is a great way for them to start giving back and for learning what they are capable of achieving.
“I want to congratulate the Departments of Fire and Emergency Services, and Justice for working together on this initiative and say thank you to the emergency services volunteers and career personnel who are giving up their own time to help these detainees find a new path.
“The Youth in Emergency Services program also has the added potential to create career pathways or to foster an ongoing interest in volunteering.”
