Children held at north Queensland’s troubled Cleveland youth detention centre have been placed in isolation for more than 70 days straight, and held overnight in tiny concrete rooms with no running water or toilet, a new report has found.
The state’s Inspector of Detention Services has handed the state government its latest report, which focuses on the use of “separation” – locking children in solitary confinement or isolation – due to staffing shortages.
Last year, Guardian Australia’s series of reports on the Townsville youth prison revealed the extensive use of solitary confinement, children being denied access to schooling or rehabilitative programs, and claims their treatment there was “turbo-charging” offending in the community. More recent data suggests up to 96% of children held in detention centres go on to reoffend.
The inspector, Anthony Reilly, found that in July last year – immediately after the Guardian’s reporting – staffing issues eased, and the use of separation decreased.
But Reilly’s report still raises ongoing concerns about the use of separation, including that children in Queensland have fewer legislated safeguards than adults or those interstate. He has called for an overhaul of the Youth Justice Act to “address this inequity and protect children”.
The report drew attention to “separation rooms” in the Cleveland detention centre, which are sometimes referred to as “seclusion rooms” or “time out rooms”.
Last year, the Department of Youth Justice told Guardian Australia these rooms were “rarely used” and subject to strict approvals. The department states clearly online that children kept in separation “always have access to a toilet”.
However, the inspector witnessed children being kept overnight in small concrete rooms with no basic facilities.
“We saw the separation rooms, which are small rooms with bare cement floors and walls covered in graffiti. They are empty, with no toilet, running water, bed or seat,” the report said.
“On the second day of the inspection, we saw that children were in each of two separation rooms in an accommodation unit. Both had slept overnight there, with each having been given a mattress and bedding to put on the floor to sleep on.
“We heard one child screaming and bashing his fists on the door of the room, asking to be let out.
“The reasons we were given for the centre separating the children in those rooms was that each of their accommodation rooms was uninhabitable. One child had flooded his room with water and the other’s room had an infestation of ants. There were no spare accommodation rooms to place the children in.”
Children who have been held in these cells have told Guardian Australia they have a drain in the middle of the floor, which “smells like piss”.
While the report found that the use of “separation” had decreased since staffing numbers had gone up, it showed that large numbers of children had spent long periods locked alone in their rooms.
Between 2021 and 2023, six boys were kept in isolation – for more than 20 hours a day – on more than 70 straight days. More than 350 children were kept in separation for more than 20 straight days during the same period.
“During our inspection, we spoke to the centre’s psychologists about the psychological impact of separation,” the report said.
“They told us that the timeframes in which they would see a decline in the mental health of children who were separated depended on each child. It can occur after a day for some but can take longer for others.
“However, they also advised that the effect is usually noticeable by the second day of separation.”
In addition to an overhaul of the Youth Justice Act, the report has called for immediate upgrades to separation rooms to ensure they have a toilet and running water.
It found therapeutic staff at the centre were mostly doing “reactive” work – including managing suicide risk of children in isolation – rather than meaningful engagement with them.
