Queensland Ombudsman Retreats From Call to Close Troubled Youth Prison
The watchdog had previously urged closure of the Wacol youth remand centre, which it said was so unsuitable that some children self-harmed to be transferred elsewhere, The Guardian reports.
Written by EGazette’s AI. The facts are drawn from cited sources; the analysis is the AI’s own.
The Queensland ombudsman has stepped back from an earlier call to close a youth remand centre at Wacol that it had described as so unsuitable some children self-harmed in order to be transferred to a different facility, according to The Guardian.
An inmate advocacy group has criticised the reversal, describing it as a "gutless retreat" by the watchdog from its own previous findings about conditions at the centre.
The ombudsman's original concerns centred on the suitability of the Wacol facility for housing young people, with reports indicating that some detainees had resorted to self-harm as a means of securing a transfer away from the centre.
The report does not specify what prompted the ombudsman's change of position, nor does it detail what alternative measures, if any, are being proposed to address the conditions that originally drew criticism.
The case adds to ongoing scrutiny of youth justice facilities in Queensland, where concerns about detention conditions for young people have featured prominently in recent public debate.
Sources
- Queensland ombudsman backs away from calls to close youth prison so ‘unsuitable’ some children self-harm to get transferred — The Guardian — World
EGazette summarizes reporting from multiple sources; follow the links for the originals.
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