Ashley Detention Centre more costly per night than top ultra-luxury hotel Saffire at Freycinet

IT costs almost $1 million a year to house a child in the Ashley Youth Detention Centre — about $200,000 more than the equivalent annual stay in Tassie’s top-end resort.

IT costs almost $1 million a year to house a child in the Ashley Youth Detention Centre.

Parliamentary Estimates hearings have been told the cost of keeping a child in the 51-bed centre, near Deloraine in northern Tasmania, was most recently estimated to be $2570 per day, or $938,000 a year.

By contrast, a stay in a luxury suite at the Saffire Freycinet resort costs $2100 a night — or about $760,000 a year.

The cost of keeping a child in Ashley was previously as high as $3562 per day, or $1.3 million a year.

The hearing was told there are presently 10 children detained at the prison.

Ashley Youth Detention Centre in northern Tasmania currently houses 10 young inmates.

The cost of keeping a prisoner in adult detention in Tasmania is about $110,000 per prisoner per year.

Human Services Minister Roger Jaesnch told the committee that given the number of residents and the staffing levels, there was always going to be a very high cost of operating the facility.

The committee heard that 53.8 per cent of young offenders released from Ashley were back in detention within 12 months.

Human Services Minister Roger Jaesnch said it was not known how many of the children detained at Ashley ended up in adult prison.

He said the Government was spending $7.2 million upgrading the facilities at Ashley.

In 2011, the then Children’s Commissioner called for Ashley to be closed.

Costly justice: kids in prison cost the state $1.3 million each a year.