A master plan for the replacement to the troubled Ashley Youth Detention Centre in Deloraine has been released by the Tasmanian government. Minister for Children and Youth Roger Jaensch says construction on the Pontville sight will begin this year, with an expected completion date of late 2027. Ashley will close after that date.
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00:00It's a facility tainted by decades of abuse.
00:07Today, the government confirmed the Ashley Youth Detention Centre won't close until 2028.
00:14The Minister for Children and Youth unveiled the master plan for a new youth justice facility at Pontville, promising it'll be different.
00:22We need to leave behind us the history associated with that site but also that model of care for young people
00:29which hasn't produced good outcomes for them and it hasn't ultimately significantly reduced re-offending.
00:36Plans will soon be lodged with the Southern Midlands Council for a smaller 16-bed facility,
00:42containing separate quarters for new arrivals and those being released and a medical unit.
00:48The government announced in 2021 that it planned to close Ashley within three years.
00:53That deadline was pushed out to 2026 and now 2028.
00:58It says it's been doing the work to find the right location and model.
01:03That has taken time but we believe it's time that's been well invested in giving Tasmania what will be nation
01:09and possibly world leading facilities and reforms in our youth justice space.
01:14I don't think this government's got any credibility when it comes to youth justice.
01:17They've made promises around youth detention. They haven't delivered on them.
01:22Lawyer Angela Cedrinas led a class action on behalf of former detainees who suffered abuse at Ashley,
01:29resulting in a historic $75 million settlement.
01:33She's worried about the facility operating for longer.
01:37What is most disturbing is that even today we are still getting complaints of abuse in Ashley
01:45by inmates who've been in there very recently and on at least one occasion someone who's actually still there.
01:53Ashley is a safer place for young people than it ever has been before.
01:56There's more scrutiny and oversight, there's body worn cameras, there are body scanners.
02:01The government will introduce a bill to parliament on Tuesday which it says will fast track the construction of the new facility.