Bimberi is experiencing a significant and sustained increase in the number of young people in detention. Photo: Region.
Rising detainee numbers and a policy of containment at the ACT’s youth detention centre are a volatile mix that could easily ignite if left unaddressed, a new report has warned.
The report by ACT Custodial Inspector Rebecca Minty, ACT Ombudsman Iain Anderson, ACT Human Rights Commissioner Pene Mathew, and ACT Public Advocate and Children and Young People Commissioner Jodie Griffiths-Cook stems from their first joint visit in May to Bimberi Youth Detention Centre as the ACT National Preventive Mechanism (NPM).
It warns of “festering tensions” because detainees are spending far too long in their units, denied outside visits, and have reduced access to health services and face-to-face education.
The report says Bimberi was experiencing a significant and sustained increase in the number of young people in detention, creating operational pressure that is impacting its ability to uphold the rights and well-being of young people in its care.
This includes a lack of record keeping and proper incident reporting, with the report calling for staff to wear body cameras to capture audio and video of incidents.
The report also says diversion programs and a Sunday bail court could reduce detention numbers.
Bimberi can accommodate 40 young people but is only staffed to support 21. In April and May 2025, the average daily number of young people was 27 and 25, respectively, and the number reached 30 on two days in April, compared with an average day for 2023-24 when there were 13 young people in detention.
It says staff have adopted a risk-averse approach to cope, consciously ‘slowing down’ the centre to manage it.
“Young people are spending too long in their unit with little to do, which is not good for their mental health and can heighten tension in the centre,” the report says.
“Unfortunately, despite previous recommendations from oversight bodies, Bimberi does not keep records on time out of cells or time out of unit.”
The report says this “drift to containment” means “young people do not have enough outlets to let off steam and tensions are likely to fester, heightening safety and security risks”.
ACT Ombudsman Iain Anderson says body-worn cameras would protect both detainees and staff. Photo: IPAA.
In 2019, violence exploded at Bimberi when detainees rioted, with one threatening to kill a staff member.
Mr Anderson said rising tensions were not good for the people in detention or the staff either.
“Our recommendations, we think, will actually lower the tension in the centre,” he said.
He sympathised with stretched staff but said they should be able to manage the centre in ways that did not curtail access to education, health, family visits, and external programs.
“We think all of those things will help make the centre run better and also be better for the young people when they finally come out of detention,” he said.
The report says therapeutic and rehabilitative approaches need to be prioritised over the security concerns governing the running of the centre.
The ACT Government agreed to this recommendation but noted there needed to be an appropriate balance of risk management and access to programs.
It only noted the recommendations for diversion programs, Sunday bail court and body cameras, saying there would be a cost involved.
Mr Anderson said this was disappointing, saying the Sunday bail court had real potential to ensure that young people were not being detained unnecessarily.
“If they’re going to be bailed, then it’s pretty traumatic for them and disruptive for them to be detained over the weekend because there’s no court,” he said.
“It’s more expensive detaining them than convening a Sunday bail court.”
The report noted three incidents that raised concerns – two for excessive use of force, and the other for a lack of trauma-informed approaches. However, the footage and related records did not provide enough details.
Mr Anderson said there were insufficient safeguards to ensure that people in detention were being treated properly, but also to protect staff in case of complaints.
Body-worn cameras, which had been successfully deployed in other jurisdictions, would address that.
“When you don’t have audio and sometimes you don’t have any CCTV footage, you can’t actually investigate complaints about people saying use of force was inappropriate,” he said.
“So I think it’s in the interests of the staff and the people in detention to have worn cameras.”
The report also says the government should respond to the 15 recommendations in the 2024 Health Centre Review by the Custodial Inspector, which was handed down nine months ago.
Mr Anderson said it was very disappointing that there hadn’t been a response.
“We think that a number of the things that were pointed to there are still clearly issues in the centre when we did our visit,” he said.
The government says a response will be delivered by the end of the year.
It also agreed that oversight bodies continue to have access to Bimberi.
