In short:
Week after week passes by as children in Tasmania’s troubled Ashley Youth Detention Centre wait for their next court date, often unaware of how the legal system even works.
Legal Aid Tasmania says a lack of on-call legal support means children are staying on remand in Ashley for far longer than necessary, at times more than what they receive in their final court sentence.
What’s next?
Tasmania’s commission of inquiry into child sexual abuse recommended a 24-hour bail service and legal representation. The government says it’s prioritising children on remand.
Bail applications, remand dates, filing hearings, briefs of evidence, first appearances, plea negotiations — even for adults, the criminal court system can be complex, confusing and cumbersome.
But imagine being a 13-year-old charged with a criminal offence, without secure housing, and as a result in Ashley Youth Detention Centre on remand, which means being in custody awaiting trial.
After receiving a duty lawyer at first, youths are left to rely upon their relationship with their own criminal lawyer.
High case loads in Tasmania mean these lawyers aren’t always available at short notice, and rarely after hours.
This shortcoming was acknowledged by the commission of inquiry into child sexual abuse in Tasmania, which recommended a 24-hour statewide bail system for children and young people, with access to legal representation.
Legal Aid Tasmania director Kristen Wylie told ABC Stateline that without this legal service, more children than necessary were ending up on remand in Ashley.
“They’re left to have their own relationship with their lawyer, which can be really problematic, given the sort of facilities available, and actually for them to reach out to their lawyers,” she said.
“A lot of the children that I’ve spoken to in Ashley had no idea what was going on with their case. They said they couldn’t get a hold of their lawyers.
“When you look at the space that is available for them to try to make contact with their lawyers, that was hardly surprising.”
Legal Aid is calling on the Tasmanian government to implement this system as a matter of priority.
Youth spends months without being sentenced
In September, data showed that a youth had been in Ashley for 205 days, without being sentenced.
For the first three months of 2024, the longest a youth was in Ashley without being sentenced was 87 days.
And from January to May, 55 individual children had been in Ashley: 15 who had been sentenced, 40 who were unsentenced.
This means youths are often unable to be released on bail for months at a time – sometimes for a variety of reasons, including community safety considerations, but also due to a lack of suitable housing.
Ms Wylie said this is resulting in cases where children were spending more time in Ashley on remand, than what they receive in their final court sentence.
“I am concerned that a number of children are spending too long between the first appearance, and the time that they’ve applied for bail,” she said.
“What we do see is a number of children who are on remand and not getting bail because they have no housing or no safe housing.
“And it doesn’t sit well with me that any person should be detained because they’re homeless.”
In May, there were 24 children at Ashley, which the Commissioner for Children and Young People, Leanne McLean, said was the highest she could recall. Of those, 20 were unsentenced.
Since then, the numbers have reduced by as much as half as part of a renewed government focus to prioritise assistance for children on remand.
Legal services can’t be in isolation
Legal Aid Tasmania has put itself forward as wanting to operate an on-call legal support service for youth offenders.
Ms Wylie said there were cases where children enter Ashley with “quite significant drug issues”, but a lack of detoxification facilities in Tasmania meant they re-entered the community without those issues being addressed.
She said better legal services should be combined with housing and health services.
“What we would like to see is a duty lawyer service directly delivered into Ashley, with face-to-face interaction between lawyers, and the children and young people there,” Ms Wylie said.
“The other thing we’d like to see is a duty lawyer service that incorporates social supports.
“Having someone there to wrap up the housing needs that so many of these children have, as well as needs for mental health and other health supports … would make an incredible difference.”
The commission of inquiry heard evidence from former Ashley detainees about the sexual and physical abuse they endured, and threats and intimidation, which had caused ongoing trauma.
A class action involving 129 former detainees between 1960 and 2023 was settled for $75 million last month.
The government last month announced a multi-agency task force to reduce the number of children in detention, prioritise those on remand when safe to do so, and provide intensive case management with the community services sector.
Plans for a new detention facility at Pontville – north of Hobart – are continuing, with a community consultation plan being developed.
The government has committed to implementing all recommendations from the commission of inquiry, and has been contacted regarding on-call legal services.
A government spokesperson said it was working towards having a duty lawyer available for children and young people detained at Ashley, and it will continue to engage with Legal Aid on the issue.
“Our government acknowledges that it is crucial that children and young people in detention have access to appropriate and timely legal advice and representation, to assist them in understanding their legal rights and responsibilities and in navigating court processes,” the spokesperson said.
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