‘What hope in hell do these kids have?’ Ex-Ashley detainee reveals ‘mental warfare’ on the inside

A former Ashley Youth Detention Centre detainee has come forward to tell his story in the hopes his insights can help change a “broken” system.

IF THERE’s one thing Dion* never talks about with his family and friends, it’s the years he spent locked up at Ashley Youth Detention Centre.

Assaulted three times and subjected to “mental warfare”, Dion said he and the other detainees were routinely “degraded”, called names and left in no uncertain terms they were “the lowest form of life”.

The Hobart resident has decided not to join the 105 former detainees that as of Friday, launched Tasmania’s first-ever class action against the scandal-ridden facility.

But Dion has chosen to come forward and tell his story regardless, in the hopes his insights can help lead to change.

He spent two-and-a-half years at the Deloraine facility after a serious crime he committed while in the grips of a florid mental illness.

“I won’t mince words. It was bad and it lives with me forever,” he said.

“I’ll be the first one to tell you I needed to be in there, for myself and others.”

Dion has since received a huge amount of therapy, and now lives a successful life with a strong support system.

But he said out of the 60 kids he saw come through Ashley during his time there, he only knew one other person who hadn’t reoffended.

He said that was because the system was “broken”.

Dion said 75 per cent of Ashley’s guards – who have the job title of “youth worker” – were good people who cared about young people.

A Hobart man who was detained at Ashley Youth Detention Centre for two and a half years has come forward to tell the public what a hell hole the place was. Picture: Chris Kidd

But he said 25 per cent were “bad”, who did “irreparable harm”.

“That 25 per cent have probably been let down. They’re not monsters, they’ve just had their fair share of events at Ashley that have somewhat corrupted them,” he said.

“Within that 25 per cent, you’ve got five to 10 per cent that are actual monsters.”

Dion said none were trained in youth psychology, or issues like the mental illness, fetal alcohol syndrome, abusive families or trauma that so many of the residents suffered from.

“I don’t understand why they couldn’t put them through at least a six-week program about some of the conditions that affect people,” he said.

“There were workers that had been there for 16-plus years. They built the culture and they ran the culture.”

He said the “male-led” workplace treated female employees “like dogs..t”, with plenty of problems for female inmates too.

Dion said the first time he was assaulted by a fellow detainee, a youth worker allowed the assault to continue for a full minute before even responding.

He also saw youth workers bash other detainees, using their knees to “drop the back of someone’s head” or throw them into walls.

Ashley Youth Detention Centre near Westbury in northern Tasmania.

Dion said one young person who’d been convicted of manslaughter was targeted by the youth workers, which caused him to “lash out”.

Other youth workers would randomly demerit a resident’s “points” on an archaic privilege system that ranked detainees on their behaviour, inciting them to misbehave in response.

“That is the mental warfare,” Dion said, adding that many of the young people at Ashley had come from abusive families and didn’t know how to regulate their emotions or respond without violence.

“What hope in hell do these kids have?”

Dion said he hoped the state government would train new staff properly before opening two new facilities in the north and south.

“I have sat and thought about what happened in there multiple times,” he said.

“Seeing the stories come out made me realise there are less fortunate kids in the world that don’t need to experience what those before them have.”

* Name changed to protect identity.

If you or a loved one is struggling, further support is available:

Lifeline Australia – 13 11 14

Beyond Blue – 1300 22 46 36

Rural Alive and Well

– 1300 4357 6283

Kids Helpline – 1800 551 800

Follow @ambervwilson

Originally published as ‘What hope in hell do these kids have?’ Ex-Ashley detainee reveals ‘mental warfare’ on the inside