Victoria’s youth affairs minister, Jenny Mikakos, has denied she has lost control of the youth justice system, saying ongoing riots by detainees are not unique to the state and are due to an increasingly violent cohort of offenders.
Her comments were supported by the director of secure services, Ian Lanyon, who said the drug ice was contributing significantly to an increase in youth violence.
Police were called to the Malmsbury youth justice centre, 100km north of Melbourne, on Thursday afternoon after six detainees refused to comply with corrections staff orders to move into another unit and instead began rioting.
It was the second clash in the space of a few days, with riot police called in on Sunday to control unrest at the Parkville youth justice facility, about 6km north of Melbourne.
It follows ongoing riots every few weeks at the facilities, causing extensive damage and prompting the state government to transfer some detainees to a unit within the Barwon adult prison that has been reclassified as a youth facility.
Mikakos told reporters on Friday morning that violent riots in youth detention were not confined to Victoria.
“If you look to what happened in Perth three years ago, an entire youth justice facility was trashed,” she said. “The clients were moved to an adult prison in response, a decision upheld by the supreme court.
“In recent weeks, including on the weekend, we had an incident in Sydney. We’ve had incidents right around the country because the type of offenders we’ve seen has been changing in recent years.
“We’ve got far more violent offending going on. We’re seeing it in the community and we’re seeing it in our youth justice facilities as well.”
An increased investment in police recruitment meant more young violent offenders were being charged and detained, and shortages in youth justice beds was exacerbating the issue.
Lanyon told reporters that in part the rioting was also occurring owing to ongoing media coverage. But the bigger issue was the changing nature of offending, he said.
“I’m talking to my colleagues around the country to understand what’s really driving some of this behaviour,” he said. “The dynamics have changed within this offending cohort.
“We’re seeing much more violent offending playing out. The drug ice has certainly had a significant impact in terms of some of the behaviours that we are seeing, and these are quite extraordinary behaviours.”
Those involved in Thurday’s riot armed themsleves with parts of the unit they had destroyed, Lanyon said. They had a history of abusing drugs and alcohol but he said he did not know if drugs were a factor in their behaviour.
He also emphasised that there were no drugs in the centre. “What we are seeing is this drug ice is really insidious, it stays within young people’s systems for some time,” he said. “It also has an ongoing and enduring effect on motor function.”
Mikakos rejected calls from the state opposition for her to resign over the issue, saying she was “not interested in the Liberal party has to say”. “They are yet to suggest a single idea about how these challenges can be addressed,” she said.
The riots and youth facilities were being reviewed, she said, and behaviour management training was also taking place. Fortification works to the Parkville youth justice facility were under way, including steel being placed into the ceilings to prevent detainees from entering them.
Drawing up a business case for a new youth justice facility had also been expedited, Mikakos said.
She added that it was usually those on remand involved in the rioting and she was in discussions with the children’s court about how its processes could be sped up.
“The youth justice framework in this state has not been updated for 16 years,” Mikakos said. “So we are looking at a whole raft of measures. Everything is being looked at … We are looking at the entire system – every part of it.”
