{"id":587961,"date":"2026-04-05T23:32:20","date_gmt":"2026-04-05T23:32:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/587961\/"},"modified":"2026-04-05T23:32:20","modified_gmt":"2026-04-05T23:32:20","slug":"youth-detention-watchdog-calls-for-upgrade-to-harmful-cells-to-improve-childrens-access-to-justice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/587961\/","title":{"rendered":"Youth detention watchdog calls for upgrade to ‘harmful’ cells to improve children’s access to justice"},"content":{"rendered":"

South Australia’s Youth Court cells do not meet “acceptable minimum standards of safety, dignity and care”, resulting in child detainees increasingly appearing in court via video link, the state’s youth detention watchdog says.<\/p>\n

The cells, sighted by ABC News during an authorised visit to the circa-1970s Adelaide Youth Court building, are 2 to 3 square metres in size, and are furnished with a bench.<\/p>\n

“They are tiny cells,” Youth Training Centre Visitor Shona Reid told the ABC.<\/p>\n

“They are very sparse, very cold, Perspex glass, just a single bench.”<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

An Adelaide Youth Court cell measures about two to three square metres. (ABC News: Stephanie Richards)<\/p>\n

According to the Youth Court, the cells are used “infrequently” when young people in custody are brought before the court for trial or sentencing.<\/p>\n

The cells are also used on “rare occasions” when a young person is remanded in custody following a court appearance.<\/p>\n

Ms Reid spent more than a year investigating the conditions inside the cells and the use of audio-visual links by the Youth Court, after hearing concerns from young people in detention and their lawyers.<\/p>\n

\"Shona<\/p>\n

SA’s Guardian for Children and Young People Shona Reid is also the Training Centre Visitor. (ABC News: Ashlin Blieschke)<\/p>\n

The watchdog, who is legislated to advocate for young people in detention, described the cells as “not fit for purpose”, and called for upgrades within 12 months to ensure they meet “child-appropriate standards of safety, dignity and humane treatment”.<\/p>\n

“The evidence before this inquiry demonstrates a strong and consistent view that the conditions of the Youth Court cells are harmful to children and young people and fall below acceptable minimum standards of safety, dignity and care,” Ms Reid wrote in a report tabled in state parliament in February.<\/p>\n

One young person quoted in Ms Reid’s report claimed they were held in the cells “from 9am till 6pm”.<\/p>\n

Another reportedly said: “Nah, can’t sleep in there \u2026 there’s a bench and it’s tiny.”<\/p>\n

\"Three<\/p>\n

The watchdog says the Adelaide Youth Court’s cells are “not fit for purpose”. (ABC News: Stephanie Richards)<\/p>\n

Cell conditions ‘significant driver’ for reliance on video link<\/p>\n

According to Ms Reid, the “substandard” conditions of the Youth Court cells have prompted an increase in the number of young people detained at the Kurlana Tapa Youth Justice Centre appearing in court remotely via audio-visual link (AVL).<\/p>\n

Court data provided to Ms Reid shows the use of AVL by the Youth Court increased by nearly one-third between 2020-21 and 2024-25, with less than 10 per cent of young people in custody attending sentencing hearings in-person.<\/p>\n

Ms Reid said the use of AVL had become the “prevailing operational norm” after the COVID-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n

She said despite some children expressing a desire to attend court in-person, the majority attended court remotely from the Kurlana Tapa Youth Justice Centre.<\/p>\n

\"Empty<\/p>\n

Child detainees are increasingly appearing in the Adelaide Youth Court via audio-visual link. (ABC News: Stephanie Richards)<\/p>\n

One young person quoted in Ms Reid’s report said: “Showing up to the judge shows respect.”<\/p>\n

Another said: “When we go in person, they know we’re just people \u2026 kids, not criminals.”<\/p>\n

Other young people interviewed by Ms Reid raised concerns about technology glitches, which made it difficult for them to understand what was being said during court hearings.<\/p>\n

“Half the time you can’t hear the people or sometimes it messes up,” said a young person quoted in Ms Reid’s report.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Shona Reid says some children want to attend the Youth Court in person. (ABC News: Stephanie Richards)<\/p>\n

Ms Reid said the use of AVL should not absolve the court system of its “obligation to address unsafe court environments”.<\/p>\n

“It’s very convenient to set up a camera and to run a process via video link because it works for the grown-ups,” she said.<\/p>\n

“What it doesn’t work for is the children and we cannot lose sight of that.”<\/p>\n

As well as calling for an upgrade of the Youth Court cells, Ms Reid also recommended that the state government ban the “default” use of AVL for substantive hearings, and ensure decisions made to proceed via AVL be documented and based on informed consent.<\/p>\n

Court, government reviewing report<\/p>\n

In a statement, a spokesperson for the Youth Court said they welcomed Ms Reid’s report.<\/p>\n

They said the factors affecting a young person’s understanding of and ability to participate in court proceedings were complex.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/p>\n

The watchdog has called for an upgrade of the Youth Court cells. (ABC News: Stephanie Richards)<\/p>\n

“The Court has an obligation to ensure that children and young people understand the nature of the proceedings, which is discharged in accordance with each child or young person’s individual needs and within existing resources,” the spokesperson said.<\/p>\n

“The report identifies systemic procedural factors contributing to the increased use of AVL for hearings, and its impact on the participation of children and young people in proceedings.<\/p>\n

“A review of these arrangements has commenced to identify potential improvements.”<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Kyam Maher admits the Adelaide Youth Court cells are “not ideal”. (ABC News: Che Chorley)<\/p>\n

Attorney-General Kyam Maher said the government received Ms Reid’s report prior to the state election and was now considering its recommendations and findings.<\/p>\n

He said the government had invested “many millions of dollars” in court infrastructure upgrades, but conceded the Youth Court cells were “not ideal”.<\/p>\n

“We are, however, particularly focused on providing those programs to try to divert young people away from the criminal justice system,” he said.<\/p>\n

“We are unashamedly looking at ways and investing in making sure young people don’t get into that situation in the first place.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"South Australia’s Youth Court cells do not meet “acceptable minimum standards of safety, dignity and care”, resulting in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":587962,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[287429,287432,64,63,287433,287435,161881,6670,44,287430,287434,287431,27080],"class_list":["post-587961","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-adelaide-youth-court","tag-adelaide-youth-training-centre","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-avl","tag-court-cells","tag-court-proceedings","tag-legal-proceedings","tag-news","tag-office-of-the-guardian-for-children-and-young-people","tag-sa-youth-court","tag-shona-reid","tag-youth-detention"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/587961","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=587961"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/587961\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/587962"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=587961"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=587961"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=587961"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}