Key Information
- A Devlopment Application has been submitted for the new Tasmanian Youth Justice Facility at 466 Brighton Road, Pontville.
- A Community Consultation and Feedback Summary Report [PDF,1.15MB] was released to show how feedback on the New Tasmanian Youth Justice Facility Masterplan, [PDF,13.4MB] was incorporated into the design submitted with the Development Application.
- The Southern Midlands Council are the planning authority for this assessment. The community will have opportunity to provide during the statutory advertising period.
- For information regarding the planning assessment, please contact Southern Midlands Council on (03) 6254 5050 or mail@southernmidlands.tas.gov.au
Project overview
A commitment has been made to close the Ashley Youth Detention Centre (AYDC) as soon as possible.
The decision to close AYDC and build a new facility aligns with the recommendations of the Youth Justice Blueprint and the Tasmanian Government’s Commission of Inquiry. These recommendations prioritise therapeutic approaches. Evidence shows that therapeutic approaches prevent reoffending and keep the community safer.
The purpose of the Facility is to provide:
- A safe, secure and rehabilitative facility for children and young people.
- A facility where healing and wellbeing is the primary focus.
- An environment where children and young people are supported to address their offending behaviour and successfully return to the community as positive, contributing members of society.
- An environment where children, young people, staff and visitors feel safe and supported.
- The community with confidence that children and young people in detention are in a safe, purpose-built facility that provides a high standard of care and rehabilitation support.
The Facility will be built at 466 Brighton Road, Pontville, with access off Rifle Range Road. Rifle Range Road will be upgraded to support this use.
The Facility will provide an environment where children and young people experience the highest standards of child centred, rights-based and therapeutic care. It will also provide them with education, services and opportunities that support them to enhance connections and return successfully to the community.
The Facility will have a non-institutional feel and made up of individual buildings. A ‘Building as Perimeter’ model has been adopted. This means views from within the buildings and houses in the Facility will have clear sight lines to the surrounding rural land and the hills forming the valley in which it sits.
The large site (~32ha) allows the Facility to sit approximately 150m away from surrounding uses. It is expected that the open space around the Facility will continue to be used as horse grazing land. This provides further opportunity for windows from the facility to look directly out to the landscape.
The design of the Facility is being guided by a Model of Care which adopts evidence-based trauma-informed principles to provide a therapeutic environment that acknowledges the trauma histories that exist for many of the children and young people in the youth justice system.
The safety, both physical and psychological, of children and young people, staff and neighbours will be at the forefront as the design for the Facility progresses.
Consultation on the Masterplan
The consultation period on the New Tasmanian Youth Justice Facility Masterplan, [PDF,13.4MB] has now closed. We thank everyone that took part in the consultation process.
A Community Consultation and Feedback Summary Report [PDF,1.15MB] has been prepared that provides a summary of the feedback received during consultation on the Masterplan, and how this has been responded to.
Development Application
A Development Application has been submitted for the new Tasmanian Youth Justice Facility at 466 Brighton Road, Pontville.
Following release and engagement of the Masterplan for the site in May 2025, the design has reached a stage where it can be formally assessed against the Planning Scheme.
The Development Application is for a 24-bed facility, including 20 residential beds for children and young people.
The Development Application includes four more beds than outlined in the Masterplan. These beds are not currently funded for construction, but they have been included in the plans as a forward planning measure, enabling the facility to be expanded if required. This responds to consultation feedback about possible long-term demand, ensuring that this limited expansion could proceed without the need for further planning approval.
Lodgement of the application with the Southern Midlands Council is an important milestone towards commencement of construction of the new facility and the commitment to close the Ashley Youth Detention Centre.
The Southern Midlands Council are the planning authority for this assessment. The community will have opportunities to provide feedback during the statutory advertising period.
For further information regarding the planning assessment, please contact Southern Midlands Council by phone on (03) 6254 5050 or by email at mail@southernmidlands.tas.gov.au
Further information will be provided once the assessment process formally commences.
Frequently asked questions (FAQs)
A list of frequently asked questions about the new youth justice facility has been developed.
Click through to learn more about the project, including the design and construction phase, operation and the consultation period.
Further information
If you have any questions or would like further information, please contact us at the below details.
Contact: New Tasmanian Youth Justice Facility
- Address: GPO Box 123, HOBART, TASMANIA 7001
- Email: newyjfacility@decyp.tas.gov.au
- Phone: (03) 6165 0443