When Charlotte self-harmed at Tasmania's Ashley Youth Detention Centre, a female worker slammed her head into a wooden bed frame and told her to "grow up".
Charlotte, who gave evidence under a pseudonym to an inquiry into child sexual abuse in public institutions, said a worker "Edwin" left her alone with four boys who "did what they wanted" with her.
She was on an off-site trip with a worker who left her alone with six boys. She said one of the boys had sex with her in a hut.
Charlotte was in Ashley several times from the age of 12. She told the inquiry Edwin was "sleazy", touched her legs while they played cards and said he wished she was older.
Edwin wrote "bite me" on the chest of her friend, a fellow detainee. Charlotte said workers saw Edwin do it, and nothing came of her complaint.
She started self-harming when she was locked in her unit.
"This lady worker came in .... she slammed my head into ... a wood bed base sort of thing and told me to 'grow up and stop doing it, that's making more paperwork'," she said.
"After that I just felt like I couldn't say anything otherwise I'd get it off the workers as well."
Charlotte says she lit her unit on fire because she was nervous about an impending strip search that required her to be fully naked in front of two people.
Despite Ashley having a school on site, Charlotte said she didn't receive an education and doesn't know how to read or write.
"I was pushed into a room and nothing really. I have no words," she said.
The centre has been described as having a culture of dehumanisation and brutality, with former detainees saying they were raped and bashed by guards and told not to speak up.
Assistant manager, Fiona Atkins, who has worked at Ashley for some 20 years, agreed there was a "general view" among staff that historical abuse allegations made against colleagues were false.
She also agreed there were matters in the past that should have been referred to police.
"Previously managers have had meetings with ... police ... and the message was that unless there was a willing victim or the victim was willing to make a statement, it wouldn't be progressed," she said.
"More recently I've sort of formed a working relationship a little bit with ... police and have referred matters to them."
She said the centre was currently not adequately staffed due to a high number of staff stand downs and workers compensation claims.
National Children's Commissioner Anne Hollonds has joined calls for the facility to be shut immediately.
The state government is standing by a pledge made in September to close the centre within three years. The facility has operated for more than two decades.
"If there were better alternative sites and services available, we'd be using them," Minister for Children and Young People, Roger Jaensch, told state parliament.
There are 11 children currently detained in Ashley, 10 of those on remand as criminal proceedings progress.
Tasmania's working with vulnerable people registrar, Peter Graham, believes the state government department overseeing Ashley has been "overwhelmed" by historical abuse allegations in recent years.
Mr Graham said his office had received more than 80 requests for information relating to Ashley in the last 18 months.
"The leadership of the department didn't see this for the crisis it was. There were multiple grave allegations about current staff that kind of got a 'business as usual' response."
Lifeline 13 11 14
Kids Helpline 1800 55 1800 (for people aged 5 to 25)
