00:00It's a facility tainted by decades of abuse.
00:07Today, the government confirmed the Ashley Youth Detention Centre won't close until 2028.
00:14The Minister for Children and Youth unveiled the master plan for a new youth justice facility at Pontville, promising it'll be different.
00:22We need to leave behind us the history associated with that site but also that model of care for young people
00:29which hasn't produced good outcomes for them and it hasn't ultimately significantly reduced re-offending.
00:36Plans will soon be lodged with the Southern Midlands Council for a smaller 16-bed facility,
00:42containing separate quarters for new arrivals and those being released and a medical unit.
00:48The government announced in 2021 that it planned to close Ashley within three years.
00:53That deadline was pushed out to 2026 and now 2028.
00:58It says it's been doing the work to find the right location and model.
01:03That has taken time but we believe it's time that's been well invested in giving Tasmania what will be nation
01:09and possibly world leading facilities and reforms in our youth justice space.
01:14I don't think this government's got any credibility when it comes to youth justice.
01:17They've made promises around youth detention. They haven't delivered on them.
01:22Lawyer Angela Cedrinas led a class action on behalf of former detainees who suffered abuse at Ashley,
01:29resulting in a historic $75 million settlement.
01:33She's worried about the facility operating for longer.
01:37What is most disturbing is that even today we are still getting complaints of abuse in Ashley
01:45by inmates who've been in there very recently and on at least one occasion someone who's actually still there.
01:53Ashley is a safer place for young people than it ever has been before.
01:56There's more scrutiny and oversight, there's body worn cameras, there are body scanners.
02:01The government will introduce a bill to parliament on Tuesday which it says will fast track the construction of the new facility.
Comments