Closure of Ashley may prove costly
Greg Hall fears shock decision to shut youth detention facility in the North could backfire on the Tasmanian government
TIME will tell whether the Premier’s decision to announce the closure of the Ashley Youth Detention Centre was as wise as it was abrupt — or whether it will join a list of calls that look nowhere near as good in the rear view mirror as they might have originally seemed.
These calls include the shutdown and sale of the Hayes prison farm — a decision that has subsequently been shown to have been flawed and is now widely regretted.
Health professionals also are questioning the closure of the state’s mental health hospital and the consequent impact on both patients and mainstream health services.
As you would expect with every significant institution, it has not always been plain sailing.
Ashley has been hampered over the years by a lack of investment, lack of professional development for staff and, although it has enjoyed strong support from Deloraine and the Meander Valley, a lack of appreciation in the wider Tasmanian community of the difficulties of the job.
As is the way these days, its shortcomings have been on prominent display while its successes have been largely ignored.
One of the most prominent criticisms over the years is that rather than reforming young lives, Ashley served as a training ground for career criminals. There was some substance to that criticism in the past because of the former practice of routinely remanding young people initially facing the court system to Ashley, where they mixed with more serious or repeat offenders.
As one of the many attempts over the years to improve Ashley and the wider youth justice system, I chaired a 2007 Legislative Council Select Committee inquiry into Ashley, Youth Justice and Detention.
The Committee made 32 recommendations, of which, almost all of which were eventually implemented. These recommendations included changes in remand policy, prioritising the diversion of young offenders from custodial youth justice in all but the most serious cases, as well as upgrading of the Ashley school and vocational training.
As a result, Ashley these days is barely recognisable from the Ashley of old.
Instead of the remand centre of first resort, it has become a place of last resort where the Youth Court first determines that all other avenues have been exhausted and a young person’s offending is sufficiently serious to require secure detention.
That means the number of young people in custody at Ashley has come tumbling down to the point where the average is around nine or 10 detainees at any one time.
At the same time, investment in facilities and staff has been increased, allowing more intensive efforts to turn around these young lives.
For instance, the teacher to student ratio in the Ashley school and training programs is about 1:1 — a level unheard of in mainstream educational facilities.
Every effort is made to provide young people with the practical skills to assist in their successful return to the community — and many staff and youth workers believe that Ashley is actually now working better than ever.
Westbury farmer Greg Hall is a former independent member of the Tasmanian Legislative Council. He was also Mayor of the Meander Valley Council from 1997 to 2002. Mr Hall is a Vietnam War veteran and was awarded Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in the 2021 Australia Day Honours.