Auditor-General’s report reveals crisis at Townsville’s Cleveland Youth Detention Centre

Queensland’s auditor-general has delivered a damning report on Townsville’s Cleveland Youth Detention Centre, highlighting severe staff shortages, frequent lockdowns, and the dwindling rehabilitation and education of young detainees.

Auditor-General Brendan Worrall has delivered a report highlighting concerning levels of lockdowns and staff shortages at Townsville’s Cleveland Youth Detention Centre.

• ‘Lives in danger’: Staffer stabbed at youth detention

Queensland’s auditor-general has delivered a damning report on Townsville’s Cleveland Youth Detention Centre, highlighting severe staff shortages, frequent lockdowns, and the dwindling rehabilitation and education of young detainees.

In his recent report focused on reducing serious youth crime, Auditor-General Brendan Worrall expressed deep concern over the persistent challenges plaguing the Cleveland Youth Detention Centre in Townsville.

Despite an increase in full-time equivalent staff from 267 to 284 between July 2021 and June 2023, the centre continues to face significant staffing deficiencies, attributed to vacancies, staff covering higher duties, and absences due to maternity leave, injuries, and illness.

The report’s findings coincide with disturbing incidents of staff assaults at the facility, including shocking attacks where staff members were stabbed and assaulted by youths.

Youth Justice Minister Di Farmer with Intensive Case Worker Aida Cook and Indigenous Support Services Officer Keisha Tremlett at the Cleveland Bay Youth Detention Centre. Picture: Evan Morgan

Additionally, Cleveland recorded the highest lockdown rates in the state, with young detainees in lockdown for 294 days — equivalent to 81 per cent of the year in 2022-23, a sharp increase from 12 per cent in 2018-19.

Rehabilitation efforts at the centre have also suffered, with the number of young offenders completing programs plummeting from 215 in 2018 to just 31 in 2022.

The report found most detainees received only 3 to 5 hours of face-to-face education per week between 2021 and 2023, highlighting a critical gap in educational support.

The report underscores a broader statewide trend, revealing a troubling 64 per cent increase in Queensland’s average daily number of serious repeat offenders from 2018 to 2023. Alarmingly, 18 per cent of these repeat offenders had no documented record of being offered rehabilitation services.

The LNP have seized on the report’s findings as evidence of the government’s failure to address youth crime effectively, criticising existing intervention programs as inadequate.

In response, Youth Justice Minister Di Farmer acknowledged the challenges outlined in the report while noting positive outcomes from recent government initiatives not covered in Worrall’s findings, including a reported 14 per cent reduction in serious repeat offenders.

Originally published as Auditor-General’s report reveals crisis at Townsville’s Cleveland Youth Detention Centre