Review of youth detention centres

Background

An independent review into Queensland's youth detention centres was announced by the Attorney-General and Minister for Justice, Yvette D'Ath on 19 August 2016.

The review examined the practices, operation and oversight of the state's two youth detention centres in Townsville and Brisbane, in addition to evaluating the effectiveness of programs and services delivered in Queensland's youth detention centres. It also reviewed specific allegations of mistreatment of young people made by former staff members and young people previously in youth detention in Queensland.

Read the full terms of reference

Furthermore, the review examined the operations of Queensland correctional centres in relation to specific allegations of mistreatment of a 17-year-old prisoner at Brisbane Correctional Centre and the policies and practices concerning 17-year-old prisoners within the state’s correctional centres.

Ms Kathryn McMillan QC and Professor Megan Davis were appointed to conduct the independent review. Ms McMillan was appointed as the chairperson.

Read more about the reviewers

A report was provided to the Attorney-General and Minister for Justice on 14 December 2016.

Release of the Queensland Review of Youth Detention Centres report

The Queensland Government publicly released the report and Government's response on 26 April 2017 (updated 28 June 2017).

You can read the:

Review of Youth Detention Centres report (PDF, 60.1 MB)

Please note: the publically available report is redacted due to the inclusion of confidential and sensitive information relating to young people in the original report. The document has been redacted in line with the provisions of the Youth Justice Act 1992.

Government’s response to the report (PDF, 574 KB)