Alleged escape from Ashley Youth Detention Centre prompts calls to close the facility down
An alleged escape from the Ashley Youth Detention Centre on Tuesday night has prompted calls for the facility to be shut down and replaced with a different system to cater for youth offenders.
Tasmania
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THE night-time escape and alleged attempted carjacking by a detainee of Ashley Youth Detention Centre has reignited calls for the facility to be shut down.
A 17-year-old boy was arrested after police responded to a report that he had left the centre near Deloraine at about 7.15pm on Tuesday.
He was found a short time later hiding in bushes nearby, police said.
He was charged with escape and attempted carjacking and was due to appear in a Youth Justice Court on Wednesday.
Human Services Minister Roger Jaensch said the Department of Communities had commenced a formal review into the incident.
Prisoners Legal Service of Tasmania chair Greg Barns renewed calls for Ashley to be closed, describing the centre as an “undergraduate school” for Risdon Prison.
“Ashley is well past its use-by date,’’ he said.
“It serves no useful purpose in rehabilitating and reintegrating young people ... it should be closed down.
“What we should be doing instead is having very small centres for those young people who are at risk and they should be close to major urban centres, and should not be run like a jail.”
Greens Leader Cassy O’Connor said a report by independent consultant Noetic in 2016 recommended Ashley close and be replaced by two smaller therapeutic centres in the north and south, which she said was the Greens’ policy.
She said mistreatment of Ashley detainees had been “longstanding and systemic”.
“Of course young people are trying to escape. Ashley is a sick place and it needs to close,’’ Ms O’Connor said.
A report by custodial inspector Richard Connock, which was tabled in parliament in October 2019 and unsuccessfully redacted in parts, found the centre had a scalable fence, failed to properly monitor CCTV footage and did not record detainees’ phone calls.
Mr Connock recommended changes to stop detainees from escaping undetected, saying the perimeter fence would not stop young people scaling it.
Labor child safety spokeswoman Sarah Lovell said the state government had failed to heed the warnings of the custodial inspector.
“The families of young people in AYDC and the community need to be able to have confidence that those young people are safe,’’ she said.
“But the fact is the government buried this review in a bottom drawer and failed, utterly, to act on it.”
Mr Jaensch said a $7.3 million redesign and upgrade of the centre was underway, with safety and security measures being addressed as part of it.
“The Department of Communities responds to all recommendations by the Custodial Inspector, including those made in the 2018 inspection report,’’ he said.
“In response to those recommendations the Department of Communities Tasmania has taken a range of actions to ensure the ongoing security and suitability of the site as a therapeutic youth justice facility.”
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