Inspection into Cleveland Youth Detention Centre reveals ongoing problems, staffing concerns
A landmark inspection into operations at Cleveland Youth Detention Centre has laid bare the staffing shortages and infrastructure failings that continue to exist at regional Queensland’s only youth facility.
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A landmark inspection into operations at Cleveland Youth Detention Centre has laid bare the staffing shortages and infrastructure failings that continue to exist at regional Queensland’s only youth facility.
‘The Cleveland Youth Detention Centre report: Focus on separation due to staff shortages’ was tabled in parliament by speaker Curtis Pitt on Tuesday after being completed by Inspection of Detention Services Andrew Reilly.
In total, Mr Reilly’s report made 15 recommendations to improve performance at the centre and the treatment of children detained there.
Mr Reilly pointed to severe staff shortages at the centre, which has been a frequent criticism voiced by sources at Cleveland, as one of the driving factors in the use of ‘separation’, a practice in which children detained at the centre are locked in their rooms alone.
In June, Auditor-General Brendan Worrall handed down a damning report into practices at Cleveland, which outlined the impacts the frequent lockdowns and staffing shortages were having on the centre’s ability to rehabilitate and educate children.
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Despite an increase in full-time equivalent staff from 267 to 284 between July 2021 and June 2023, Mr Reilly’s report echoed many of the concerns present in Auditor-General Worral’s findings, stating that the centre often did not have the minimum number of staff needed to properly operate the facility.
“Under the terms of the relevant, certified agreement, the safe supervision ratio within youth detention centres is a minimum of one detention youth worker to four children,” the report found.
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“On many days, there are not enough staff to meet this ratio. As a result, the centre regularly locks children in their rooms alone. This practice is known as ‘separation’.”
The report found the practice, which had decreased somewhat but not been eliminated over the last year, impacted children’s ability to access services and programs designed to rehabilitate and educate them.
“These problems are compounded by the pressures under which the centre operates, workforce issues, ageing infrastructure and poor information systems.”
In addition recommended changes to staffing levels and practices at the centre, Mr Reilly also called for a rethink of the youth justice act to implement safeguards at the level of adult detention facilities, saying that youth centres still lagged behind in many ways.
“In fact, they have fewer safeguards when separated than adults detained in prisons in Queensland do.
“We recommend that the Queensland Government amends the Youth Justice Act 1992 to address this inequity and protect children.
“Until more staff are available, the centre needs to identify how it can improve the amount of meaningful contact and time out of rooms that children have while separated.
“The Department of Youth Justice also needs to undertake broader reform of the centre’s workforce, infrastructure and systems.”
Mr Reilly’s report also outlined that children locked in rooms alone are often left in rooms without even the most basic amenities.
“When the centre uses separation in response to a behaviour incident, it often holds children in rooms with no basic facilities such as a toilet, running water, or bed. In contrast, Queensland adult prisons provide these basic facilities in their detention units.”
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Originally published as Inspection into Cleveland Youth Detention Centre reveals ongoing problems, staffing concerns
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