Published August 20, 2026 · Category: News

Overview

Prolonged detention of children, insufficient staffing and hazardous damage to buildings are among the ombudsman’s concerns

Drugs are being openly dealt inside Villawood detention centre; makeshift weapons are being manufactured amid intimidation, standover tactics and a “culture of fear”; people are sleeping outside under CCTV cameras for their own safety; and children are being kept from going to school, a scathing report from the independent monitor has found.

Details

The commonwealth’s National Preventive Mechanism issued the report based on a three-day visit in March this year. A total of 428 people were held in Villawood at the time, including children. Some 78 beds were offline because of damage still not repaired from a fire three years ago.

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Source

Originally published at www.theguardian.com.

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