Qld to splash up to $250m on third children’s prison to fix capacity

The news

Queensland will spend up to $250 million to build a third new prison for children and teens accused of crimes in an attempt to address detention-capacity pressure.

The facility, dubbed a youth remand centre, would be built on police-owned land near two of the state’s three detention sites and operated by Youth Justice staff when it opened next year.

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk and key government figures at the site of the new centre on Thursday, with two of the state’s three existing detention facilities in the background. Credit: Matt Dennien

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk and other government figures made the announcement at the site on Thursday morning, pitching it as a way to reduce reliance on the controversial practice of detaining young people in police watch houses.

“There have been some legitimate concerns raised about young people being in watch houses for extended periods of time,” Palaszczuk said.

“I’m not happy about that. No one behind me is happy about that. And we want to address that issue.”

How we got here

The state government is facing pressure from evidence-based reformers, crime victim groups and across the political spectrum to address concerns about youth crime after a series of high-profile incidents and legislative reactions.

But with its tougher bail legislation and having bypassed human rights laws, the government has also been accused of contradicting strategies to address the causes of youth offending and reoffending – which can be exacerbated by detention.

Why it matters

While the first 50-bed stage of the site would be running in 2024, work on a further stage of between 20 and 50 extra beds was also likely to start in 2024, Police Commissioner Katarina Carroll said.

Up to $250 million has been budgeted for the entire project, which would also have capacity to be turned into a new adult remand centre if and when it was no longer needed for young people.

The new site is expected to ease the need for watch house use mostly in south-east Queensland, including a new youth-focused site in Caboolture, but may also be used to house young people from elsewhere in the state.

Two youth detention centres are already set to be built at a cost of at least $500 million – one in Woodford and one near Cairns – but are not expected to be completed until 2026.

What they said

“I’m confident that the investment that we are putting in is being channelled in the right sections, but this has been a missing piece,” Palaszczuk said of the new site.

“We make no apologies for having some of the harshest youth justice laws in the country.”

Youth Justice Minister Di Farmer on Thursday

She would not be drawn on whether the government was also working to update overarching expired or expiring youth justice plans.

Carroll said watch houses would still be used for initial processing.

Another point of view

Youth Advocacy Centre chief executive Katherine Hayes said the centre was a “Band-Aid solution” to increasing numbers of serious offenders, as overall crime rates continue to decline.

Hayes knew of many young people held on remand unnecessarily before their charges were dismissed because they should have only been cautioned.

“Detention is not a deterrent, and the government needs to stop its reactive political responses and start implementing long-term fixes so that the youth crime cycle can be broken,” she said.

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