The Ashley Youth Detention Centre is supposed to be on a path to closure following scathing findings by the child sexual abuse commission of inquiry. But the number of children detained there has reached a decade high, alarming child safety advocates who say alternative approaches to youth justice are urgently needed.
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00:00 2024 was the year Ashley Youth Detention Centre was supposed to close.
00:08 Instead, there are more children locked up today than at any point in the past 10 years.
00:15 This week, they reached a decade high of 26 children and young people being held in detention.
00:24 There are usually around a dozen children in the detention centre, most on remand, waiting for sentencing or a trial.
00:33 Advocates are concerned the extra detainees are a result of the government's tough on crime agenda.
00:40 We cannot say that detention in Tasmania is a last resort because we do not have a suite of other options to utilise.
00:50 The centre already struggles with staffing issues, which the increase in detainees is making worse.
00:57 Ashley is not equipped to be able to accommodate 26 young people.
01:02 The staff are very worried for the children and for themselves because there are serious safety issues.
01:08 Child safety advocates want the government to urgently create a task force to reduce the number of kids in detention.
01:16 So that we can identify the needs of the children currently detained and identify some alternative community-based supports.
01:23 The Premier says he's looking into it.
01:26 The government says it's been doing a mountain of work in the area and plans to close Ashley by mid-2026.
01:34 But it still needs to finalise a new model of care for the five new youth justice centres, which it's also yet to build.
01:43 Nobody I know realistically thinks that Ashley will be able to close in 2026.
01:48 The reality is that if we were heading towards having a new facility, there would be consultation going on.
01:54 None of that is happening.
01:55 A detention centre everyone agrees is past its use-by date, being used more than ever.
02:03 [BLANK_AUDIO]