Detainees have climbed onto roof tops, fences and lit a fire at the controversial Banksia Hill youth detention centre in Western Australia.
Inmates also threatened staff on New Year's Eve, according to the state's Department of Justice.
Specialist police were deployed to the facility near Fremantle and a command centre has been set up.
Crews from the Department of Fire and Emergency Services put out the blaze and authorities say there is no threat to the broader community.
The disturbance comes days after the state's Aboriginal Legal Service went to the Supreme Court seeking a judicial review of continuing lockdowns at the detention centre.
In August Supreme Court Justice Paul Tottle ruled that a teenage boy was unlawfully locked in his cell for up to a day at a time at Banksia Hill.
Justice Tottle found the boy's treatment was not authorised under the Young Offenders Act, despite the facility's problems with inadequate staffing.
