The decision today that the Ashley Youth Detention Centre will close is welcome but must be about fundamentally more than merely closing one building to be replaced with another.
Shadow Child Safety Minister Sarah Lovell said after seven years of indecision by the Liberal Government it took Ashley worker Alysha to blow the whistle for the government to announce the closure of the facility.
"This government could no longer ignore the on-going and serious concerns about Ashley and the pending Commission of Inquiry into the Tasmanian Government's Responses to Child Sexual Abuse has also no doubt played a role in the decision of the government today," Ms Lovell said.
"Senior government Ministers have been unable - or unwilling - to answer serious questions about Ashley during Estimates Hearings this week and, in light of that, this is the only possible outcome.
"But what needs to be the priority of the Liberal Government going forward is what will replace Ashley and how they will support the current staff through this process.
"It's more than about two new buildings in the north and south.
"It's crucial that these two new facilities be therapeutic and support young people to be rehabilitated because children as young at 10 are incarcerated at Ashley.
"Over the years there has been much evidence come to light about conditions at Ashley, whether or not children were being rehabilitated and the evidence in fact demonstrated that many of them graduated to the adult prison system.
"It has failed many children.
"What we need to see from Gutwein Government now is very clear detail about how the two new facilities will operate, how they will be staffed and what sort of practices will be engaged because we need to ensure that it is different from Ashley.
"We need to see a guarantee that the children currently at Ashley are kept safe while the transition to two new centres is on-going.
"It's not about just new buildings, it's about a different approach to youth detention."
Sarah Lovell MLC
Shadow Child Safety Minister
