It is my view that it is never appropriate for children or young people to be detained in adult custodial facilities, a view expressed strongly by former Commissioners for Children and Young People.
Placing children – as young as 10 years of age in recent times – in these facilities, even for short periods, exposes them to environments that are fundamentally unsuitable and actively harmful to their wellbeing.
This position was echoed in the Custodial Inspector’s Children in Tasmania’s prisons Review report 2025, which concluded prison watch-houses “are wholly inappropriate for children and should be included in the reform agenda.”
My office’s report on the lived experience of children and young people in adult custodial settings, Lonely and scary and traumatising, reminded the Tasmanian Government that the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child has emphasised that children should never be held in adult custodial facilities, as it compromises their health, basic safety, and future ability to avoid reoffending.
The Tasmanian Government has acknowledged the importance of holding children and young people separately from adults, with the Tasmanian Prison Service noting in June 2025 “options are being explored for a dedicated reception facility for young people that could be attached to the Hobart Reception Prison”.
It is sad and exasperating that a further year on from this public statement, a significant number of children and young people continue to be detained in adult facilities, with reports of stays there reaching up to 55 hours.
This should alarm all reasonably minded Tasmanians.
Ros Cornish AM
Interim Commissioner for Children and Young People
Media Contact:
Mark Thomas, M&M Communications
0422 006 732