Youth crime Qld: Wacol remand facility set to open by end of 2024
Queensland’s newest youth remand facility is on track to be built before the end of the year, but the cost has increased and the first offenders won’t sit in its cells for several months.
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Queensland’s newest youth remand facility is on track to be built before the end of the year, but the cost has increased and the first offenders won’t sit in its cells for several months.
Police Minister Mark Ryan on Monday toured the Wacol Youth Remand Facility and said it was on time and on budget despite construction only starting earlier this year.
However, the original $250m cost of the facility, revealed by then premier Annastacia Palaszczuk last October, has increased by $10m to $260m.
At the time, Ms Palaszczuk confirmed the $250m was for the whole project and planned additional capacity.
The government has since included a planned expansion in its stage-one construction to increase the size of the centre from 50 beds to 76.
Mr Ryan said the $250m cost of the facility was for the original plan.
“Instead of building it in two stages, it was built in one stage and we’re still going to get it done within the 12-month period,” he said.
“It’s a major facility … I think that’s quite extraordinary given its scale.
“There’s still a little bit to go on it, but it’s almost done and as soon as it’s finished it’ll be handed over to youth justice to operate.”
Acting Police Commissioner Shane Chelepy said the dedicated facility would help end the holding of more than 600 young offenders in police watch houses each month.
“The best place for young offenders is not in our watch houses, and to have a purpose-built facility like this definitely makes it safer for those young offenders … but it also makes it safer for our staff and the community overall,” he said.
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