New Tasmanian Youth Justice Facility

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 trauma informed approaches. Evidence shows that therapeutic approaches prevent reoffending and keep the community safer.

The new facility will play a role in the broader reforms to Tasmania’s youth justice system. The main focus of the reforms is on diversion and early intervention, with detention being a last resort. The new facility will focus on providing care for the small number of children and young people who need secure accommodation, within a therapeutic, trauma-informed and culturally safe environment.

For the small number of children and young people who require care within a secure environment, the Facility will 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 the Facility Model of Care which will adopt 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

The Development Application was publicly advertised by the Southern Midlands Council for the new Tasmanian Youth Justice Facility at 466 Brighton Road, Pontville.

The Southern Midlands Council are the Planning Authority for this assessment.

Council has been assessing the Development Application against the Tasmanian Planning Scheme in accordance with Land Use and Planning Approvals Act 1993 and will finalise their assessment and make a decision in the coming weeks.

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.

Advertising of the application by 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.

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

Consultation on the facility Model of Care

Public consultation will be undertaken on the Model of Care for the new facility from late 2025 into early 2026. More information will be released soon about the consultation process.

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 community consultation and feedback.

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

Published December 5, 2025