Calls to shut Ashley now
THREE years to close the troubled Ashley Youth Detention Centre will be three years too late, critics say.
Advocates are calling for the scandal-ridden Deloraine facility to close immediately, or at least within coming months, warning more children could be neglected, sexually abused or physically harmed in the meantime. The state government is now being pressured to decamp Ashley’s vulnerable detainees immediately to a safe therapeutic facility or to in-home care.
THREE years to close the troubled Ashley Youth Detention Centre will be three years too late, key critics have warned.
Advocates are calling for the scandal-ridden Deloraine facility to close immediately, or at least within coming months, warning even more children could be neglected, sexually abused or physically harmed in the meantime.
The state government is now being pressured to decamp Ashley’s vulnerable detainees immediately to a safe therapeutic facility or to inhome care.
The pressure comes as questions are raised about why it has taken so long to close such a problematic facility – and why the step was only taken in the midst of a high-profile staff sexual harassment case, rather than following decades of child safety complaints.
ABOUT TO ERUPT
THE decision to close Ashley within three years comes as an avalanche of allegations aimed at the centre are about to erupt – and on two main fronts.
Firstly, almost 200 former detainees are planning to sue the state government over abuse they allegedly suffered while locked up. So far, two civil claims have been lodged in the Supreme Court of Tasmania, including one former detainee who says he was forced to perform sex acts upon the facility’s wardens and older boys during the 1980s and 1990s.
Another former detainee said he was “punched for fun” while locked up at the facility in 2002 and 2003, left in isolation without food, and viciously assaulted by staff.
Law firm Arnold Thomas & Becker has another 40 clients from Ashley soon to lodge claims against the Tasmanian government, alleging it breached its duty of care owed to the children.
Angela Sdrinis Legal is also preparing a class action for about 100 former Ashley detainees, plus a further 50 individual cases.
Secondly, Ashley will also be subjected to the fine-tooth-comb of the upcoming state government child sexual abuse Commission of Inquiry, with hearings expected to begin next month.
But of course, claims of abuse at Ashley aren’t new. During the past year, at least three staff members have been stood down amid allegations of abuse. In March, the Mercury reported allegations an Ashley worker raped a child and masturbated in front of detainees.
“The government is playing catch-up and is in damage control. It knows what’s coming as the Commission of Inquiry commences its work,” lawyer Angela Sdrinis said.
“Advocates have been calling for Ashley to close for decades. The announcement is welcome but too little, too late.”
SHUT IT DOWN NOW – OR AT LEAST SOON
“WE would like to see it closed sooner rather than later because of the fact it is doing so much harm to young people,” Greg Barns, Prisoners Legal Service Tasmania chair, said.
“If you start in Ashley you inevitably end up at Risdon Prison.”
Mr Barns (left) said only a small number of young people were ever detained there at the one time – usually between seven to 12 children – and they could easily be moved somewhere more suitable within months.
“In an ideal world, you would close it tomorrow.
“But because there’s been no planning done by the government for alternative therapeutic facilities, it will take some months.”
Mr Barns said secure accommodation should be set up in both Hobart and Launceston, so detainees could be close to their families, and that facilities shouldn’t have bars on windows, high fences or solitary confinement.
“Best practice for young people who need secure accommodation and support is in urban centres, not stuck out in the middle of nowhere,’’ he said.
“Look at Don Dale and Ashley; where facilities are out of sight, out of mind, you get abuse.
“They should be looking after young people through mental health care, working with families and plugging them through the education system and proper through-care for after they leave.”
Ms Sdrinis also called for any new youth facility to be staffed by an entirely new workforce.
“Experienced staff from interstate should be recruited,’’ she said.
“The same thing will happen if the same staff continue to be employed and all that changes is the buildings.
“Even if senior staff say there have been no accusations against them, presumably they closed their eyes to what others were doing.”
THE ‘F… DOLL’ SCANDAL
ASHLEY is no stranger to concerns or complaints, but the state government’s closure announcement last week didn’t come fresh on the back of child rape allegations – it came in the midst of a media frenzy over a staff sexual harassment and bullying claim.
The woman at the centre of the disaster, who goes by her first name only of Alysha (left), had a two-anda-half-hour meeting with Premier Peter Gutwein to describe the litany of horrors she was allegedly subjected to by other staff at Ashley. But instead, she used the opportunity to whistleblow child safety problems.
Her lawyer, institutional child abuse lawyer Sebastian Buscemi, said Alysha put the Tasmanian government in a position where “they had to do something”.
“Alysha made the choice to talk about the kids, not herself,” he said.
He also said the length of time it took the government to close Ashley was “insane”.
“It should be shut straight away,” he said.
“Closing Ashley is a great step but it’s the tip of the iceberg and so far it hasn’t actually addressed a single thing.
“The reality is it’s still open for the next three years. The staff that posed the risk conceivably haven’t been moved on in the past few days and staff (in general) are going to be
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angry they’re losing their jobs as well.”
ARCHAIC AND ‘DREADFUL’
ROWENA Macdonald, new Tasmanian president of the Australian Lawyers Alliance, described conditions at Ashley as “appalling”, “dreadful” and “horrific”.
She’s also wondering why such an archaic system has been in place in Tasmania for so long, noting therapeutic alternatives for child offenders have been recommended by experts for some 100 years.
“It’s not a new idea,” she said. “It’s an obviously failed system … they’re kids and they’re vulnerable kids.”
Ms Macdonald is working on a class action with Ms Sdrinis and is aghast at the list of abuse allegations that could be continuing to this very day.
She described the use of a burning scabies cream applied to the genitalia of every detainee, excessive use of restraints, use of isolation, lack of sanitary hygiene for young women, failure to have female officers conducting strip searches of girls and the failure to follow through when a young person reported abuse. “Three years is obviously a long time. We would like to see it closed earlier,” she said.
“We know that there’s terrible problems and abuses that occur in that place. We need to move attention towards the future and getting ourselves up to date with world’s best practice in nurturing vulnerable young people.”
A number of reports over the years have identified the site’s deficiencies, including one commissioned by the government in 2016 that recommended its closure.
Minister for Children and Youth Sarah Courtney (left) said the young people at Ashley were now safe, according to advice from the Department of Communities, and “benefiting from the new facilities and practice approach now in place”.
But the government would not budge on the timeline.
“We will close Ashley Youth Detention Centre within three years and invest in two new smaller facilities in the North and in the South with a new service delivery model,” Ms Courtney said.