New Wacol Youth Remand Centre ready to hold young offenders 

Published Saturday, 29 March, 2025 at 10:51 AM

JOINT STATEMENT

Minister for Police and Emergency Services
The Honourable Dan Purdie

Minister for Youth Justice and Victim Support and Minister for Corrective Services
The Honourable Laura Gerber

 

29 March 2025 

New Wacol Youth Remand Centre ready to hold young offenders 

  • Crisafulli Government opens new Wacol Youth Remand Centre, increasing capacity in Queensland’s strained youth detention system and reducing the number of youths held in watchhouses.

  • Centre will help restore consequences for action for youth crime and implement better rehabilitation. 

  • Youth offenders will have access to educational, medical and rehabilitation programs, halting the revolving door of youth crime. 

 

The Crisafulli Government has officially opened the Wacol Youth Remand Centre, after months of Labor’s delays left the State with critical shortages in detention facilities. 

Youth offenders will be moved into the new facility this week, with many facing charges under the Crisafulli Government’s tough new Adult Crime, Adult Time laws. 

The new 76 bed facility feature state of the art security management systems as well as access to education and vocational training, rehabilitation programs, health care and support services. 

The former Labor Government created the Youth Crime Crisis and then failed to build the critical infrastructure needed to deal with the skyrocketing number of young offenders. 

As a result, Queensland’s youth detention centres have been operating above safe capacity since 2022, forcing juveniles to be stuck in watchhouses without sufficient rehabilitation. 

Under the former Government, the reoffending rate for youth leaving detention was 94 per cent. 

Despite the new facility being subject to major delays under Labor, the Crisafulli Government has acted fast to open the Wacol Youth Remand Centre and delivered funding to extend the Caboolture Youth Hub. 

Minister for Youth Justice and Victim Support Laura Gerber said the new Centre improved community safety and provided a much-needed capacity boost to the State’s youth detention system.  

“For a decade, Labor let youth crime spiral out of control and sat on their hands while youth recidivism skyrocketed and capacity in our youth detention centres reached breaking point,” Minister Gerber said. 

"The Crisafulli Government is delivering the fresh start Queenslanders voted for and delivering the new Youth Remand Centre is another step to fixing Labor’s mess and restoring safety to our communities. 

“Detention shouldn’t breed better criminals, and under Detention with Purpose, youth offenders will receive the intensive rehabilitation they need to get them back on track.  

“Facilities like this mean more rehabilitation and more education, for less repeat crime and a safer community.   

“Detention and remand are more than a place to sleep, they must be a tool in rehabilitation and this centre allows us to start delivering that reform, with real consequences for bad behaviour. 

“Youth offenders will have access to education and rehabilitation programs inside the centre to develop the skills they need to have a productive future but there will also be clear consequences for actions.  

“Youth who choose to commit the most serious crimes will serve the time under Adult Crime, Adult Time but, with effective early intervention and intensive rehabilitation programs we are giving them the best chance to turn their lives around.” 

Minister for Police and Emergency Services Dan Purdie said the Crisafulli Government was committed to arresting Labor’s Youth Crime Crisis with stronger laws and consequences for action. 

“Our police will continue to round up this generation of untouchables and send them here to this new facility where they’ll be held accountable for their actions,” Minister Purdie said.  

“Queenslanders voted for change after a decade of weak laws and fewer police left our State in the grip of a Youth Crime Crisis. 

“Our Government is focused on creating a Queensland with fewer victims, and every day that remains our goal.” 

 

ENDS 

MEDIA CONTACT:  

MINISTER FOR YOUTH JUSTICE: Phoebe Powell 0419 625 794 

MINISTER FOR POLICE: Lauren Brown 0415 772 677