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'Culture of brutality' at Tas youth prison

Ethan JamesAAP
The Ashley Youth Detention Centre has a culture of brutality towards children, the inquiry was told. (Chris Kidd/AAP PHOTOS)
Camera IconThe Ashley Youth Detention Centre has a culture of brutality towards children, the inquiry was told. (Chris Kidd/AAP PHOTOS) Credit: AAP

Tasmania's Ashley Youth Detention Centre has a culture of brutality towards children, allowed alleged sexual abusers to continue working and has breached United Nations torture conventions, an inquiry has been told.

A former detainee, known as Warren, said he was raped at least 20 times by one guard and sexually assaulted more than 50 times by other staff who withheld his ADHD medication until they abused him.

Another former detainee said he was placed in freezing isolation with just a horse blanket for days on end.

A commission of inquiry, set up partly in response to abuse allegations against Ashley staff, started seven days of hearings into the centre on Thursday.

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Warren, who had 21 stints at Ashley from the age of 13, was regularly forced to perform sex acts on a group of three guards who worked together.

He was held down and raped on multiple occasions and had his arms pinned behind his back and head rammed into a wall by guards who were aware he suffered a head injury earlier in life.

"I couldn't do anything to protect myself," he said in a statement read to the inquiry.

Warren was subjected to fully naked strip searches and had to bend over in front of guards.

The workers threatened his family and said they would burn down his mother's house if he spoke up.

Counsel assisting the inquiry, Rachel Ellyard, described a culture of brutality and dehumanisation at the centre, which has operated since 1999.

She told the inquiry of a litany of shortcomings including improper use of isolation, "blind spots" in CCTV and a "terrible culture" that could "almost be described as anti-child".

"Rather than (it) being about monsters infiltrating. You may find it is Ashley that is the monster," she said during the opening submission.

Criminology professor Robert White interviewed staff after the death at Ashley in 2010 of a child who had been detained following a car accident and wasn't referred for medical assistance.

"They just didn't care. I was astonished and appalled actually," he said.

Professor White said a colleague with more than 30 years of prison experience described Ashley as the worst institution he had ever seen.

"I would raze Ashley to the ground. I would destroy the physical infrastructure tomorrow," he said.

Ms Ellyard said the centre permitted staff to keep working after they had been accused of abuse, and a culture of nepotism meant workers "backed each other up" when complaints were made.

Ms Ellyard said concerns about the centre had been raised in reports to government as early as 2002 and a 2016 recommendation to close the centre was ignored.

"There will be evidence that successive governments have failed to achieve meaningful change," she said.

Former Tasmanian commissioner for children and young people, Mark Morrissey, said the centre's use of isolation for lengthy periods breached the United Nations torture convention.

During his advocacy, he said he got a call from a politician advising him to "back off" because any changes to Ashley would impact employment in the region.

The centre, situated near the northwest town of Deloraine, was previously a boys home where some children were sexually abused, and many staff transitioned to the centre when it closed, Ms Ellyard said.

"Some of those still work at Ashley, or did until very recently," she said.

Ms Ellyard said the centre's workforce is under-trained and underqualified for dealing with children with complex needs.

The state government in September pledged to close the centre, which houses about a dozen children, by 2024.

Lifeline 13 11 14

Kids Helpline 1800 55 1800 (for people aged 5 to 25)

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