Greg Barns SC describes Ashley youth work advertisement as ‘sick and offensive’

An advertisement for a youth worker position at Ashley Youth Detention Centre has been branded as “sick” and “offensive” by a leading Tasmanian lawyer. What the government had to say.

Ashley Youth Detention Centre near Westbury in northern Tasmania.

An advertisement for a youth worker at the Ashley Youth Detention Centre – due to close by the end of next year – has been described as “sick” and “offensive” by a leading Tasmanian lawyer.

Greg Barns SC, the chair of the Prisoner’s Legal Service, condemned the ad in Saturday’s Mercury and said if the government was concerned about vulnerable young Tasmanians “it would have closed Ashley by now”.

However, Roger Jaensch, the Minister for Education, Children and Youth said the government was committed to closing Ashley but staff were still needed at the centre.

The advertisement says as a youth worker “this is your opportunity to make a difference” and “support young people to find their full potential”.

Mr Barns said the ad was “the worst example of false and misleading advertising in recent memory”.

Greg Barns SC from the Australian Lawyers Alliance.

“It is a sick joke to pretend that Ashley is improving the lives of young people,” he said.

“The ad is offensive to the victims of abuse at Ashley and those currently detained there.”

Mr Barns aid Ashley was “an undergraduate school for Risdon Prison” and Tasmanians would not be fooled by the ad.

Mr Jaensch said the government remained committed to the closure of Ashley and transitioning to “new contemporary therapeutic facilities and models of care as part of our reform of the whole youth justice system”.

“We also want to ensure that while AYDC remains open, young people sent to AYDC by the courts are safe and well while in custody,” he said.

Hot Air Balloon Tasmania during a flight from Deloraine to Hagley, Ashley Youth Detention Centre. PICTURE: CHRIS KIDD

“Our Keeping Kids Safe plan is an active document detailing our commitment to improving the approaches and practices at AYDC as we transition to our new Youth Justice model, and includes the recruitment of additional leadership and youth worker positions at AYDC on contracts of varying lengths.”

Labor child safety spokesperson Sarah Lovell said Ashley workers had been “under incredible pressure” because of critical understaffing.

“Additional workers at the centre should be a priority as we know that inadequate staffing levels lead to more frequent periods of lockdown and an inability to properly supervise young people,” she said.

“When you add to this the uncertainty around the timeline for the closure of AYDC, it makes it very difficult to recruit and retain good staff, perpetuating the problem.”

Originally published as Greg Barns SC describes Ashley youth work advertisement as ‘sick and offensive’