Organisations have continued to criticise the Western Australian government's handling of youth justice in the state in the wake of the second child to die in custody in a year.

The tragic death of a 17-year-old boy who identifies as Aboriginal, who took his own life at Banksia Hill youth detention centre last week, comes after 16-year-old Yamatji boy Cleveland Dodd died last year at Unit 18, the notorious youth wing of the adult, maximum security Casuarina prison.

On Monday, the Justice Reform Initiative called on the WA government to commit to a "reasonable timeline" to close both Unit 18 and Banksia Hill, as well as taking a "clear-eyed look at the multiple systems that are failing far too many young people" and commit immediately to real investment in transforming youth justice.

"The WA Government must abandon the position of defending the state of youth justice in WA," executive director Dr Mindy Sotiri said.

"Two children have now died, and many others are continuing to experience significant harm. We need to stop pretending that this system is in any way acceptable."

The latest Closing the Gap data showed Aboriginal children were incarcerated at almost 35 times the rate of non-Indigenous children in WA.

Last week, the state's Commissioner for Children and Young People, Jacqueline McGowan-Jones, was forced to release a statement criticising Corrective Services Minister Paul Papalia's comments to reporters where he argued she had recently given a "glowing" account of Banksia Hill.

This despite a report by the Commissioner a fortnight ago finding that, despite some improvements, "systemic problems" still remained, and the complex needs of children were not being met.

The report, which interviewed 43 children, found many experienced racism and often miss out on seeing their families during lockdowns.

Dr Sotiri said the death of the teenager last week highlighted just how broken the systems are.

"It is entirely inadequate for our political leaders to take the position that there is no need for systems change because there have been some minor improvements in youth justice since the first child died in custody," she said.

The government has been heavily criticised for their heavy-handed approach to youth justice, including by regulating insinuating the poor behaviour of the children.

In 2022, then Minister Johnston said his priorities were "community safety first", "safety of the staff second" and "then the third element is to keep the young offenders safe".

In the same year when asked about children being unable to leave their cells, former Premier McGowan claimed some detainees choose not to leave their cells because "they will stay up at night watching telly or playing computer games or PlayStation or what have you and sleep in the day".

A litany of failures have been brought to the public's attention after Cleveland's death, with the resulting inquest being told by the longest serving President of the Children's Court of Western Australia, Judge Denis Reynolds: "The former Minister and Premier were to the detriment of community safety; they were pushing the demonisation of the children. They thought it would be favourably received by the public. There was no will."

Kurin Minang human rights expert and law academic, Dr Hannah McGlade said in the wake of the latest death in custody that Mr Papalia was not up to the job of changing the youth justice system — lacking the knowledge, experience, and commitment.

Dr Sotiri said that despite "countless inquiries, reports, and media exposés into the state of youth justice in Australia," jurisdictions around the country had "failed to keep children safe".

"The evidence is very clear that contact with child justice systems entrenches and exacerbates disadvantage, causes ongoing harm and trauma, and in fact increases the likelihood of future criminal justice system contact," she said.

"We need to act now to protect the children who are already involved with our youth justice system or detained at Banksia Hill — children who, according to more than a decade of evidence including recent condemnation by the Commissioner for Young People, are still at risk of experiencing significant and serious harm."

She urged both the WA and federal governments to show leadership by committing to system reform and investing in evidence-based alternatives.

"Both WA and Federal leaders need to stop passing the buck and genuinely commit to real change by working with, and appropriately resourcing community led alternatives including First Nations communities" Dr Sotiri said.

"We cannot wait any longer for the change we so desperately need to keep all WA children and families safe."

On Monday, despite calls for a federal intervention by Independent Senator Lidia Thorpe, the Prime Minister said the Commonwealth wasn't about to take over the justice system of the states.