An international human rights organisation is calling for the immediate closure of a Tasmanian youth detention centre described as having a culture of brutality.
The Ashley Youth Detention Centre, which has operated for more than two decades, has this week been under the microscope of a commission of inquiry into child sexual abuse in state institutions.
Former detainees have said they were raped and bashed by guards, with one telling the inquiry his medication was withheld until he performed sexual acts.
Counsel assisting, Rachel Ellyard, said the inquiry had received evidence of abuse in recent years, saying the commission was open to finding Ashley itself was a "monster".
The state government in September announced the centre would close by 2024 and be replaced with two smaller facilities.
Amnesty International on Friday wrote to Tasmanian Justice Minister Elise Archer urging her to consider closing the centre as a "matter of urgency".
"The latest allegations are part of a broader pattern of horrors that have been taking place behind the locked gates of Tasmania's only youth detention centre for many decades," the letter, by Indigenous campaigner Maggie Munn, reads.
Ashley has a capacity of about 50 detainees but has in recent years held 10-15 children at any one time, the inquiry has been told.
Amnesty has also called for the immediate release of young people on remand and for Aboriginal-led trauma-informed diversion programs.
The inquiry was on Friday told an Ashley staff member accused of historical sexual assault against a detainee worked for months while an investigation took place.
Custodial Youth Justice Director Pamela Honan passed on feedback to a department culture group but there was confusion over who had authority to stand the worker down.
She said an attempted sexual assault of a detainee by other detainees was minimised as "horsing around" in a report by Ashley operational staff.
More than 100 former detainees this month lodged a Supreme Court class action against the state government, alleging mistreatment including rape.
Ms Ellyard said the centre had a "culture of brutality" and multiple reports to the state government raising concerns had not been properly acted upon.
A criminology professor who interviewed Ashley staff as part of a review told the inquiry he would raze the centre to the ground.
Minister for Children and Youth Roger Jaensch said "significant reform" had been taking place at the centre in recent years.
"We acknowledge the efforts that many staff members at the centre and within the Department of Communities have made towards a therapeutic approach and (to meet) the needs of young people, while also keeping the community safe," he said in a statement.
The inquiry, called after abuse allegations against Ashley workers and other state servants were made public, will examine the centre for a further five days from Monday.
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