School leavers allegedly assaulted tourists on Rottnest Island and pelted police with bottles, with officers trained in controlling riots and public unrest called in to help restore order on the holiday island.
Police say a group of about 400 high school students, some as young as 13, were on the island over the weekend for what police call "junior leavers" week, where youths in Year 11 and below celebrate the end of the school year.
Officers received multiple complaints on Friday night about a large number of juveniles being disorderly between Longreach and The Basin on the holiday island, best known for its abundance of Quokkas.
Superintendent Dave Dench said that escalated to assaults on some holiday-makers, including a 40-year-old man who was pushed off his bicycle.
Police said there were about 400 teenagers on the island for 'junior leavers' week. (Supplied: WA Police)
In what the senior police officer described as alcohol-fuelled behaviour, bottles were alleged to have been thrown at police who were sent to respond.
"A number of juveniles were taken into protective custody," he said.
"That was exacerbated by the fact that some of those juveniles didn't have responsible adults that were even on Rottnest Island.
"That is the common theme at the moment in regards to these large gatherings that we have unsupervised juveniles with ready access to alcohol, whose parents are not directly supervising them."
Police say they were expecting extra resources would be needed, but the problems exceeded what they had anticipated. (ABC News: Benjamin Gubana)
Police then declared the incident an 'out of control gathering', which meant additional police resources were called in.
That included about 18 specially trained tactical officers that travelled to the island by boat and the police air wing.
Superindendant Dench said it was lucky the officers weren't injured.
Superintendent Dave Dench held a press conference to talk about the disorderly group on Rottnest Island for junior leavers week. (ABC News: Kema Johnson)
He said the priority on the island was to disperse the crowd.
"There were a number of kids that were taken off the island over the next several days," he said.
He also said police had been aware of junior leavers week celebrations over the past few years and had planned resourcing ahead of time however things escalated this year.
"This is the most significant it's been over the last several years," Superintendent Dench said.
"Certainly, the policing numbers that we put on the island for this couple of weeks is more than it was last year, in anticipation that it's a bit of a developing issue."
He said parents needed to step in and take responsibility for children being unsupervised on the island.
Rottnest Island is famous for its quokkas. (Supplied: James Vodicka)
"A parent's job is to supervise their children, and this situation was caused by a large number of intoxicated juveniles unsupervised," Superindendent Dench said.
"So I would ask parents to take that parental responsibility and ensure that their children are supervised at all times on Rottnest Island and that they don't have ready access to alcohol."
No charges have been laid but investigations are continuing into a number of offences including assaults on Friday and Saturday night.
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