By Morgan Reinwald and Angela Crawford
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.
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.
Last Tuesday’s announcement contradicts what the Department of Justice told the Midland Express just weeks ago — that no reopening was planned.
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.
“These 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,” a department spokesperson said.
“The new model at Malmsbury will deliver intensive education, vocational training and job opportunities for this lower-risk group.
“It will also let us provide more tailored programs at Cherry Creek and Parkville.
“Recent amendments to the Youth Justice Act now allow rehabilitation programs for young people on remand, not just those sentenced.”
The department plans to recruit 114 new staff and immediately begin upgrading the site’s infrastructure and security. Extra beds will open in stages from early next year.
RESIDENTS IN SHOCK
Ross Cornell, president of the Malmsbury Progress Association, said no one in town had heard about the reopening.
“I was shocked because we hadn’t heard anything,” he said. “The working group hadn’t heard anything. One of our members emailed Mary-Anne Thomas yesterday or the day before, and she said it was just a rumour — a baseless rumour. So that’s interesting.”
The Express viewed the email, sent a day before the reopening was announced, in which a staff member from Ms Thomas’s office dismissed the claim as having “no substance”.
Cornell said the local Indigenous corporation also had no knowledge of the plans.
“We’ve heard nothing. We even met with the head of the DJAARA people, and they hadn’t heard anything either,” he said.
He added that the Midland Express ran a Justice Department statement just weeks ago claiming the centre wouldn’t reopen because of safety and OH&S concerns.
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.
“This year’s budget provided $727 million to expand capacity across Victoria’s youth justice and corrections systems,” a department spokesperson said at the time.
Local resident Kat said reopening Malmsbury was the wrong move.
“I think it’s a real shame. They should spend that money on social services and reducing reoffending instead,” she said.
Another resident, who asked not to be named, disagreed. “I don’t mind it. It’s a needed service. A name change might help reduce the town’s negative reputation,” they said.
A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE
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.
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.
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.
A previous riot in January 2017 led to a mass escape, followed by a series of assaults, armed robberies, and carjackings across the state.
‘A COSTLY STEP BACKWARDS’
The Justice Reform Initiative condemned the government’s 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.
The organisation says Victoria’s growing remand population stems from harsher bail laws that fuel an over-reliance on incarceration.
Executive director Dr Mindy Sotiri said the government was wasting public funds and ignoring research.
“It’s incredibly misleading to claim that putting more children on remand and reopening prison beds makes the community safer. The evidence shows the opposite — incarceration increases reoffending,” Dr Sotiri said.
“Building or reopening detention facilities in response to rising remand numbers is a politicised reaction to failed policy. The increase in remand isn’t due to more crime — it’s the result of tougher bail laws.
“All the evidence shows that contact with the justice system makes young people more likely to reoffend. Taxpayers keep paying for an approach that doesn’t work.”
GUARD TELLS ALL
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.
A prison guard, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, worked at MYJC and said it was the best in the state.
“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.
“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.”
