The National Network of Incarcerated and Formerly Incarcerated Women and Girls stands in full support of the Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre’s call for the immediate and permanent closure of Ashley Youth Detention Centre—and demands the Tasmanian Government abandon its dangerous and short-sighted plan to build yet another child prison in its place.
‘Children are not disposable. Yet the Tasmanian Government’s ongoing failure to close Ashley—a prison widely condemned as a site of abuse and trauma—shows a complete disregard for the safety, wellbeing and futures of some of the state’s most vulnerable children,’ said Debbie Kilroy.
‘Every day Ashley remains open, and every dollar spent on a replacement prison, is another day this government chooses punishment over healing, surveillance over safety, and control over care,’ said Debbie Kilroy. ‘Aboriginal children—who continue to be criminalised at alarming rates—are paying the price for a system that punishes them for poverty, racism, and intergenerational trauma,’ said Debbie Kilroy.
‘We remember the words of the child who wrote to the Premier from inside Ashley in 2024: “They lock us down like dogs at the dogs’ home. Even the cows in the paddocks next to Ashley have more freedom than us.” We must never forget these words. We must listen. Children have been telling us the truth—we need the courage to act,’ said Tabitha Lean.
‘Now is the time for the Tasmanian Government to choose a different path. One that is innovative, ground-breaking, and transformative. One that invests in the solutions that communities already know work—keeping children safe in their homes, classrooms and on Country,’ said Tabitha Lean.
The National Network call on Premier Rockliff and Minister Jaensch to:
- Close Ashley Youth Detention Centre immediately.
- Cancel plans to build a new children’s prison.
- Redirect funding to community-led, culturally safe solutions that support children to heal, grow and thrive.
- Listen to Aboriginal leadership—including the Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre, whose calls are rooted in decades of truth-telling and deep community care.
‘The Community don’t need better cages. They need better commitments,‘ said Tabitha Lean.
As Nala Mansell has said, “These children are not criminals. They are victims of a society that criminalises poverty, dispossession and trauma. What they need is connection to culture, to land, to healing.”
The time to act is now. We cannot keep repeating the same actions and expecting different outcomes.
Close the prison. Build the future.
For further comment, please contact Debbie Kilroy on 0419 762 474 or Tabitha Lean on 0499 780 226.
