Cleveland insiders square centre ‘dysfunction’ on management
Fudging data, intimidation and failure to protect staff. These are some of the issues behind Cleveland Youth Detention Centre’s ‘dysfunction’, employees allege.
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FUDGING data, intimidation and failure to protect staff. These are some of the issues behind Cleveland Youth Detention Centre’s ‘dysfunction’, employees allege.
A number of sources told the Townsville Bulletin they were left with no other option than to quit Cleveland Youth Detention Centre, out of fear their lives were in danger.
One Detention Youth Worker – who spoke on the grounds of anonymity said the centre has been plagued with dysfunction and malpractice for years.
He claimed the latest incident was reminiscent of a riot in 2016 when the centre was overrun by detainees.
An employee who was there at the time said the latest incident is proof of systemic issues and failure to take staff safety seriously.
“During the riot we weren’t approved for helmets and it was shields only,” he said.
“I was “train the trainer” in riot control and public order management and I said that is back the front.
“And what happened? Well one staff member lost an eye, another got a fractured skull and multiple other injuries.
“The shield didn’t stop the rock coming over and hitting my colleague in the eye.
“There was no inquiry, work safe australia obviously investigates but no lower level staff were asked.
“I highlighted the fact we had no safe room, no fallback, no emergency response plan and I tell you what, eventually it’s going to happen where it’s going to get overrun and im not understating when I say there will be a death.”
Another source said management had no idea what was really happening inside the centre.
“There’s three sides to Cleveland – the environment children live in, the environment of floor staff and then headquarters and they’re so detached from what’s happening on the floor staff,” he said.
“They feel like their job is to keep everything quiet and incidents down so the statistics look good.
“In one case six children were armed with knives and it was reclassified from a code black to a code yellow because the argument was they only had control of one room so to us staff on the floor it felt like “i don’t give a damn what you see, I only care what statistics are on paper”.
“By the time the police get there it will be done, dusted, finished and a trail of mass staff assaults if not a death.”
A Youth Justice spokeswoman told the Bulletin in late September that emergency responses were reviewed “regularly”.
The department did not respond to claims of fraudulent reporting.
“Security management was reviewed by the Youth Detention Inspectorate, which is independent of CYDC, in late June 2020,”
“Significant investment has been made in security upgrades, professional support and training for staff.
“The transparency of incidents and management practice are also subject to review and auditing from the independent Youth Detention Inspectorate and other independent oversight bodies, including the ombudsman, the Public Guardian and where appropriate the Crime and Corruption Commission.”
Originally published as Cleveland insiders square centre ‘dysfunction’ on management
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