Revolving detention at Ashley with most offenders back inside within a year

MORE than half of the children detained in the state’s troubled Ashley Youth Detention Centre are back inside within a year.

The Ashley Youth Detention Centre near Westbury in northern Tasmania.

MORE than half of the children released from the state’s troubled Ashley Youth Detention Centre are back inside within a year.

Labor said the figures showed the state's youth justice system was broken.

Documents released in State Parliament on Tuesday revealed 53.8 per cent of children released from “youth justice sentenced supervision” were back within 12 months.

In answers to questions on notice asked during Parliamentary Estimates hearings, Human Services Minister Roger Jaensch said the Government did not know how many young offenders went on to become adult offenders.

Housing Minister Roger Jaensch.

“The department does not continue to collect information on young people within their care once they turn 18 years of age and leave that care,” he said.

Labor’s youth, skills and training spokesman Josh Willie said the youth justice system was clearly failing to rehabilitate young offenders.

“The Hodgman Government and Human Services Minister Roger Jaensch need to admit that they have gotten youth justice badly wrong — the evidence before them could not be clearer,” he said.

“With almost 54 per cent of young people released from Ashley Youth Detention Centre returning to the youth justice system within a year, the Government is throwing taxpayer dollars at a clearly failed model.

“The Liberal Government has committed another $7 million toward the Ashley Youth Detention Centre when there are — at any given time — no more than 10 children residing at AYDC. The Liberal Government is committing money to keeping and returning Tasmanian children to detention when it should be dedicating funds to keeping young Tasmanians out of the youth justice system.”

Despite the poor outcomes, it costs almost $1 million a year to house a child in Ashley.

Budget Estimates heard the cost of keeping a child in the 51-bed centre, near Deloraine, was most recently estimated to be $2570 per day, or $938,000 a year.

ASHLEY DETENTION CENTRE MORE COSTLY THAN SAFFIRE

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

Keeping a prisoner in adult detention costs $324 per day — about $118,000 a year for each prisoner.

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