Victoria Put a 16-Year-Old in Adult Prison 22 Hours a Day — Ombudsman Finds Rights Breach
A 16-year-old boy spent an average of more than 22 hours a day locked in his cell for six weeks after being moved from youth detention to a maximum-security adult prison, Victoria's ombudsman has found. The Guardian
What the investigation found
Ombudsman Marlo Baragwanath, an independent official who investigates complaints about government agencies, found that the Department of Justice and Community Safety breached the boy's human rights. The transfer in early 2025 took him from the Parkville Youth Justice Precinct to Melbourne Assessment Prison, a maximum-security adult facility. It followed an attack on staff. The department had given two formal warnings that violent behaviour could lead to transfer to the adult system.
Inside Melbourne Assessment Prison, conditions bordered on solitary confinement, Baragwanath found. That means being held alone with almost no contact with others. It is like spending a full school day and night in one small room, let out for about an hour. His cell was cramped and worn. The outdoor area was effectively a room open to the sky. He had no in-person family visits during the six weeks. He said the confinement led to suicidal and self-harm thoughts. He was 16.
Under Victorian law, a child aged 15 or older can be transferred to an adult prison as a last resort. That means all other options should be tried first. The ombudsman made eight recommendations, including banning the transfer of children into adult prisons.
Why this case matters
The broader context here is how that last-resort power works in practice. The ombudsman accepted two sets of facts together. On one side, a serious assault on staff and two prior warnings. On the other, more than 22 hours a day locked in, no in-person family contact, and documented self-harm thoughts. For lawyers and youth workers, the issue is not whether the power exists. It does. The issue is what safeguards should apply once a child is inside an adult maximum-security prison, including limits on placement and time, rules on family contact and health care, and independent review. There is also the question of whether youth justice can manage violent behaviour without using adult prisons.
Parkville, the youth facility the boy was moved from, houses males aged 10 to 18 and females aged 10 to 20, according to earlier ombudsman reporting on youth justice facilities. About 80 per cent of young people at Parkville were on remand (held while waiting for court rather than serving a sentence) at the time of that 2017 reporting. That material describes 2017, not the 2025 caseload.
The ombudsman's office has kept an oversight role in adult prisons. It published a report titled 'Report on investigations into the use of force at the Metropolitan Remand Centre and the Melbourne Assessment Prison' in 2022. It later tabled an investigation titled "That's assault mate" about alleged misconduct in a private prison.
Looking at what this means for policymakers, the call for a ban forces a choice about alternatives. A ban would close off the adult-prison option entirely. Youth justice, health and human services agencies would then need to manage high-risk behaviour inside the youth system, with the staffing, separation and treatment resources that requires. The other path is a regulated last-resort power with stricter rules on placement, lock-in hours, family contact and clinical oversight. Baragwanath has put the first option on the table. The government response will define which model Victoria follows.
