The teenager was charged by Geraldton Police on Wednesday over an alleged aggravated robbery and held in custody until her court appearance the following morning. Police told the ABC she was in custody from 5pm Wednesday until 10:45am Thursday.
When the case was called before Magistrate Melita Medcalf at the Childrens Court, no representative from the Department of Communities — which oversees child protection across WA — was present, leaving the girl without a responsible adult.
"It's appalling," Magistrate Medcalf said. "She's in the care of the state, they need to do better."
The court heard the girl was living in Geraldton while her case manager was based in Perth, 420 kilometres away. The magistrate noted that the department had hours to arrange for an adult to attend, saying, "It's 10 in the morning. I'm not happy at the fact that DCP [Department of Child Protection] is not here."
Magistrate Medcalf addressed the girl directly, expressing anger at the situation rather than the teenager. "It's the reality that the department needs to show up and present as a responsible adult for you," she said.
The magistrate told the court she would make a complaint to the president of the Children's Court about the department and encouraged the girl's defence lawyer to do likewise.
The Department of Communities has been contacted for comment.
This incident follows recent scrutiny of the department after reports in The Australian newspaper alleged more than a dozen children were living unsupervised in squalor in South Hedland. Aboriginal elders have called for a royal commission into WA's child protection agency and for the child protection minister to resign. Three senior elders told the ABC they accused the government of turning a blind eye to and "neglecting" children in the Pilbara. The government has disputed that reporting but admitted an investigation into what happened took too long.