Ms ROSOL (Bass) – A matter of public importance on failure to deliver – there are so many directions one could choose to go with this and so many failures to deliver by this government.
In corrections and rehabilitation, the government have failed to implement key recommendations of the Custodial Inspector over several years, including zero action on legislation to protect whistleblowers from reprisals. However, I want to turn attention to another glaring failure in the justice space, this time in youth justice.
It has long been recognised that Ashley Youth Detention Centre is an unsafe place for young Tasmanians. Young people have been abused and their rights have been repeatedly violated. This led to a 2016 government report recommending the closure of Ashley Youth Detention Centre. It took five years for the government to make a single move on closing Ashley from that time. Eventually, in September 2021, the Liberal Government finally announced plans to close Ashley Youth Detention Centre within three years, by the end of 2024.
Here we are, in the second half of 2024, and the goalposts have moved again. Last year, the commission of inquiry called for the immediate closure of Ashley Youth Detention Centre. Rather than take immediate action, the government announced it would shift closure of Ashley Youth Detention Centre to 2026, not immediately, not even in line with their original plan to close Ashley by the end of this year.
The government have failed to follow through on both their own commitment and the urgent calls of the commission of inquiry for action. Meanwhile, young people continue to be detained in a facility that is not fit for purpose, harms young people and places young people at greater risk of continuing to engage in criminal behaviours.
We know closing Ashley Youth Detention Centre will require some work. Alternatives need to be created. Service providers need to be consulted with, best practice models need to be selected, buildings need planning, and multiple alternatives that cover the full range of therapeutic justice need to be prepared.
However, eight years after initial recommendations for Ashley to be closed, three years after the government’s own commitment to close Ashley, and almost a year after the commission of inquiry called for the closure of Ashley, the work has not been done. To date, no evidence has been provided of tangible steps taken to close Ashley, and meanwhile we have almost half a million dollars currently being spent on refurbishing the detention centre.
This spending may well improve facilities for young people, but at the same time it raises the question: why we are spending this amount of money on a facility that must be closed? Why are we not spending on the work that needs to be done to close Ashley Youth Detention Centre?
The government is failing to protect young people in detention in Tasmania. The time has passed for Ashley to close. The government must act and do the work, not just talk about the work. They must do the work to plan and build alternative facilities that will provide therapeutic justice options for Tasmanian young people. Anything else is a failure to deliver.
