Massive $75m settlement for men held at troubled youth justice centre

Men who were held at a notoriously troubled youth detention centre have had a $75 million payout approved. 

Justice Stephen Estcourt confirmed the settlement today in the Supreme Court after a class action by 129 men allegedly abused at Tasmania's Ashley Youth Detention Centre, near Launceston, between 1960 and 2023. 

The detainees' legal claim alleged they were strip-searched, subjected to isolation and beatings as punishment and encouraged to attack each other by staff.

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Lawyer Angela Sdrinis, whose firm filed proceedings, said the result followed years of "ignoring reviews and recommendations" by the state government.

"Today, the state is paying the price for these failings," Sdrinis said.

"While nothing can take away the trauma of child abuse and the deep sense of betrayal these men and women experienced when they were children detained in the AYDC, it is another step in the process of healing."

Plaintiff Ricky Brown said the most difficult part of the class action was revisiting years-old trauma from his time in detention. 

"All I can say is out of all the sadness and the suffering, we are finally being recognised today," he said.

"No one listens to crime kids. It took 40 years, but I have gained strength through this."

The settlement includes an allocation for the provision of financial counselling, financial advice and trauma counselling for all members of the class. 

Tasmanian Premier Jeremy Rockliff will have to issue a letter of apology to each settlement member.

A state inquiry into child sexual abuse in government institutions deemed the Ashley Youth Detention Centre a "live" risk to children in its final report, which was released in September.

It called for the centre be closed as soon as possible - listing it among recommendations to be completed by July 2026. 

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Tasmanian Greens leader Rosalie Woodruff welcomed the settlement's approval and said successive governments had failed in their duty to protect children at Ashley.

"Unlike other similar cases of institutional abuse, this result isn't just about the past - it's about the present too," Woodruff said in a statement.

The party called on the state government to close the centre once and for all.

"There is still a live and current risk of abuse occurring at Ashley, with frequent violations of the human rights of children at the centre."