A young person held at the Ashley Youth Detention Centre has likened the living conditions in the facility to a “dog’s home”.
The anonymised author’s letter to Premier Jeremy Rockliff from June 2023 was included in the newly published Youth Healthcare Report by Custodial Inspector Richard Connock.
In the report, Connock detailed the significant mental and physical health impacts of lockdowns experienced by both adult prisoners and young people in custody.
“These include increased frustration and irritability, anger, depressive symptoms and a general decline in mental health and wellbeing as well as social isolation,” he said.
In the letter, the young person acknowledged that being “locked away is not always a bad thing”, as it provides time to “become clean” of any drugs and to “reflect” on their life.
“It also gives us an opportunity to start fresh and go back to the community a new and different person,” they wrote.
But they said working to become better people was difficult due to the lockdowns, which mean they “can’t go to school”, can’t learn to read or write and can’t go outside.
“At the moment, they lock us down like dogs at the Dog’s Home,” the young person said.
‘We get excited when people come to our doors, just like the dogs get excited when someone goes to their cage just because we have someone to talk to.”
“Even the cows in the paddocks next to Ashley have more freedom than us.”
“I know it is hard to fix, but this has been going on for 12 months now and it’s still the same. The lockdowns need to change and we need more clarity about the lockdowns and the situation here.”
Connock made 25 recommendations to improve the mental and physical health conditions for young people in detention in the Youth Healthcare Report and hopes all will be adopted.
“The sooner certainty can be provided as to the closure of AYDC the better, but this needs to be balanced against the need to ensure changes to youth detention in Tasmania are well designed, evidence based and in line with best practice to avoid future problems,” Connock said.
Deputy Premier Michael Ferguson stated that everyone in the state’s prison or detention environment must be treated “humanely, fairly, appropriately”.
“We want to do better whenever we can to provide safe facilities, humane facilities and treat people as best as we can,” he said.
“During a period of custody, whether it’s at Risdon Prison for adults or at a juvenile detention centre like Ashley Youth Detention Centre, … there’s rehabilitation, contemplation about a better future and training opportunities.”
