{"id":26754,"date":"2025-10-28T17:02:16","date_gmt":"2025-10-28T06:02:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/midlandexpress.com.au\/?p=26754"},"modified":"2025-11-04T11:19:56","modified_gmt":"2025-11-04T00:19:56","slug":"locals-unaware-of-plans-to-reopen-malmsbury-youth-justice-centre","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/centralvic.com\/midlandexpress.com.au\/latest-news\/2025\/10\/28\/locals-unaware-of-plans-to-reopen-malmsbury-youth-justice-centre\/","title":{"rendered":"Community in the dark on Malmsbury Youth Justice Centre reopening"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Morgan Reinwald and Angela Crawford<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Malmsbury residents and the local Indigenous corporation have said they were blindsided by the state government’s plans to reopen the Malmsbury Youth Justice Centre.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


The government says it will reopen the centre, which was closed just two years ago, to manage stricter new bail laws and reduce the high rate of youth reoffending among those awaiting trial.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


Last Tuesday\u2019s announcement contradicts what the Department of Justice told the Midland Express just weeks ago \u2014 that no reopening was planned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


Officials confirmed the first 30 beds would open under a new model at the centre, responding to a 46 per cent year-on-year rise in youth remand rates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


\u201cThese beds will house a lower-risk group aged 17 and over, freeing up more custodial beds at Cherry Creek and Parkville Youth Justice Centres for serious offenders,\u201d a department spokesperson said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


\u201cThe new model at Malmsbury will deliver intensive education, vocational training and job opportunities for this lower-risk group.
\u201cIt will also let us provide more tailored programs at Cherry Creek and Parkville.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


\u201cRecent amendments to the Youth Justice Act now allow rehabilitation programs for young people on remand, not just those sentenced.\u201d
The department plans to recruit 114 new staff and immediately begin upgrading the site\u2019s infrastructure and security. Extra beds will open in stages from early next year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

RESIDENTS IN SHOCK<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Ross Cornell, president of the Malmsbury Progress Association, said no one in town had heard about the reopening.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


\u201cI was shocked because we hadn\u2019t heard anything,\u201d he said. \u201cThe working group hadn\u2019t heard anything. One of our members emailed Mary-Anne Thomas yesterday or the day before, and she said it was just a rumour \u2014 a baseless rumour. So that\u2019s interesting.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n


The Express viewed the email, sent a day before the reopening was announced, in which a staff member from Ms Thomas\u2019s office dismissed the claim as having \u201cno substance\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


Cornell said the local Indigenous corporation also had no knowledge of the plans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


\u201cWe\u2019ve heard nothing. We even met with the head of the DJAARA people, and they hadn\u2019t heard anything either,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


He added that the Midland Express ran a Justice Department statement just weeks ago claiming the centre wouldn\u2019t reopen because of safety and OH&S concerns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


In September, the Express also reported that the Department of Justice had allocated budget funding to open 88 new rooms at Cherry Creek and Parkville and to recruit 320 new staff by the end of the year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


\u201cThis year\u2019s budget provided $727 million to expand capacity across Victoria\u2019s youth justice and corrections systems,\u201d a department spokesperson said at the time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


Local resident Kat said reopening Malmsbury was the wrong move.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


\u201cI think it\u2019s a real shame. They should spend that money on social services and reducing reoffending instead,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


Another resident, who asked not to be named, disagreed. \u201cI don\u2019t mind it. It\u2019s a needed service. A name change might help reduce the town\u2019s negative reputation,\u201d they said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Earlier this year, WorkSafe charged the Department of Justice and Community Safety after a violent 2023 incident at the centre. Thirteen inmates armed themselves with improvised weapons while staff sheltered in an office. The group broke windows, taunted staff, and then cornered and brutally attacked five rival inmates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


The assault lasted about an hour. The attackers hit victims with sharpened broom handles, kicked and stomped on them, tore out hair, and sprayed them with a fire extinguisher.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


Paramedics treated one victim at the scene, and three others were hospitalised with broken bones, facial fractures and other serious injuries. The attackers forced two victims to kiss while filming the assault for social media.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


A previous riot in January 2017 led to a mass escape, followed by a series of assaults, armed robberies, and carjackings across the state.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018A COSTLY STEP BACKWARDS\u2019<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The Justice Reform Initiative condemned the government\u2019s decision to reopen Malmsbury just two years after closing it, calling it a costly and shortsighted mistake that ignored evidence on what actually improved community safety.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


The organisation says Victoria\u2019s growing remand population stems from harsher bail laws that fuel an over-reliance on incarceration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


Executive director Dr Mindy Sotiri said the government was wasting public funds and ignoring research.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


\u201cIt\u2019s incredibly misleading to claim that putting more children on remand and reopening prison beds makes the community safer. The evidence shows the opposite \u2014 incarceration increases reoffending,\u201d Dr Sotiri said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


\u201cBuilding or reopening detention facilities in response to rising remand numbers is a politicised reaction to failed policy. The increase in remand isn\u2019t due to more crime \u2014 it\u2019s the result of tougher bail laws.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


\u201cAll the evidence shows that contact with the justice system makes young people more likely to reoffend. Taxpayers keep paying for an approach that doesn\u2019t work.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

GUARD TELLS ALL<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

One of the reasons given for MYJC’s closure in 2023 was the availability and newly-built infrastructure at the Cherry Creek facility near Werribee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


A prison guard, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, worked at MYJC and said it was the best in the state.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


“There is no comparison between what the Malmsbury facility was and what Parkville or Cherry Creek is. It’s way better than anything we’ve got,” the guard said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


“Its closure really comes down to the fact that all the admin staff and all the big bosses were in Melbourne, and they didn’t want to be travelling to Malmsbury.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Paramedics arrive at the centre after a 2020 incident.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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