Children locked in cells for up to 23 hours at South Australia’s youth detention centre

Child protection watchdog says distress at Kurlana Tapa caused by prolonged detention is leading to self-harm

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Children are being locked in their cells for up to 23 consecutive hours partly due to staffing shortages at South Australia’s youth detention centre, with the system in crisis amid a spate of “shocking” self-harm incidents, the state’s guardian for young people says.

Shona Reid, the guardian and youth detention inspector, said children were becoming so distressed due to prolonged detention that they were harming themselves at the Kurlana Tapa Youth Justice Centre.

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