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ALA joins calls for immediate closure of Ashley Youth Detention Centre
15th Sep 2023
The Australian Lawyers Alliance has joined with a coalition of other organisations to urge the Tasmanian Government to immediately release all children currently detained at Ashley Youth Detention Centre to prevent further harm to their safety and wellbeing.
“The horrific abuse experienced by children who have been detained at the Ashley Youth Detention Centre over many years is deeply disturbing,” said Rowena Macdonald, Tasmanian State President, Australian Lawyers Alliance (ALA). “A phrase used by Commissioner Benjamin at the final hearing of the Commission of Inquiry was ‘institutional betrayal.’
“Ashley is an institution where children have been subjected to systemic abuse including physical and sexual abuse, unnecessary and invasive strip searches, excessive use of restraints, invasive treatments, and solitary confinement.
“It is an institution that has betrayed our most vulnerable children over decades. The centre must close as a matter of urgency.”
The Australian Lawyers Alliance strongly supports the calls for the Government to release all children detained at Ashley Youth Detention Centre to appropriate community-based facilities by 26 September when the findings of the Commission of Inquiry are tabled in parliament.
“All the evidence from around the world tells us that the more exposure a young person has to detention centres and the criminal justice system, the more likely they are to continue to reoffend,” said Ms Macdonald.
The Premier announced the closure of the Centre two years ago, promising to ‘work with stakeholders to establish and invest in a contemporary, nation-leading, therapeutic approach, across the youth justice system, to ensure our young people have the wrap-around support they need, and the best chance to live better lives’.
“Ashley Youth Detention Centre is our national shame. We urge the government to take this opportunity to work with stakeholders and act now to close the centre and allow these children the opportunity for a better future,” said Ms Macdonald.
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