The Ashley Youth Detention Centre (AYDC) Class Action
Background
On 11 August 2022 a Class Action was commenced in the Supreme Court of Tasmania on behalf of former occupants of the Ashley Youth Detention Centre (AYDC). On 19 June 2024 the Plaintiffs and the State of Tasmania agreed to settle the claims for $75m and the settlement was approved by the Court on 25 November 2024. The Class Action was officially discontinued in December 2025.
On 9 July 2024 the Supreme Court ordered that members of the class be given a notice concerning their rights. A link to that notice appears below, under documents. On 25 November 2024 the Supreme Court heard the Plaintiffs’ application for the Court to approve the settlement and approved the $75 million settlement. A link to the settlement approval hearing video appears below, under documents, as well as the Notice of Court Approval of Settlement that was sent to Class Members after the settlement approval.
Four individual claimants (Lead Plaintiffs), who are identified in the Court papers as JC, RI, QA and CA and who were child detainees at AYDC, have sued the State of Tasmania for compensation for themselves and over 100 other former detainees. The Lead Plaintiffs argue that the named detainees suffered serious injuries as a result of alleged systemic negligence in the management of the Centre dating back to 1961 and continuing until at least December 2019. The case alleges the State failed to take “reasonable care” in the selection and supervision of staff at the Centre. The Plaintiffs say this resulted in staff being hired despite links to outlaw motorcycle gangs, or despite complaints of physical or sexual abuse of young people at the Centre.
The claim also describes instances of AYDC staff encouraging detainees to attack each other, or leaving younger or female inmates unsupervised and unprotected against older male inmates. Other allegations include that staff followed degrading strip-search procedures, forcibly applied scabies treatments that caused burns to detainees’ bodies including their genitals, failed to provide appropriate medical treatment, and used isolation and beatings as punishment tools. The full description of the claims in the Class Action are set out in the “Statement of Claim” filed in the Supreme Court. A link to the Statement of Claim appears above.
Due to the many further inquiries we have received from survivors of abuse in AYDC since the Class Action settled, we are preparing to commence another Class Action to resolve these claims.
If you have suffered sexual or serious physical abuse in Ashley Youth Detention Centre, you may be eligible to join the next Class Action. Please contact our Hobart office to discuss a potential claim.
Documents
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Settlement approval hearing transcript
Transcript for the JC & Ors v State of Tasmania 25 November 2025 settlement approval hearing.
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Plaintiffs’ submissions on settlement approval
JC & Ors v State of Tasmania Plaintiffs’ submissions in support of settlement approval.
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Settlement hearing video
JC & Ors v State of Tasmania settlement hearing video at YouTube.
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Media release - 22 Nov 2024
Tasmania’s Supreme Court approves a $75m settlement for decades of abuse at Ashley Youth Detention Centre.
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Notice of Court Approval of Settlement
The court has approved a $75M settlement for Ashley Youth Detention Centre group members.
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Media Release - 21 June 2024
Ashley Class Action Progresses to Settlement for $75 million, subject to Court Approval.
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The Plaintffs Amended Statement of Claim
The Plaintffs Amended Statement of Claim can be viewed here.
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Notice of Rights of Class Members
Notice to all Group Members of the AYDC Class Action
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Feature in The Mercury - 20 September 2022
The Ashley Youth Detention Centre Class Action featured in The Mercury
FAQs
Below are some frequently asked questions about the AYDC Class Action. Please submit a question using the form below if you need any more information.
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A ‘Class Action’ is a special kind of court procedure in which one or more named people – the Lead Plaintiffs – are permitted by the Court to bring a case on their own behalf and also on behalf of a wider group of people.
The wider group of people are called Class Members or Group Members.
The Class Action procedure allows a group of victims to combine their claims to fight for compensation for all of them. The stress of litigation is reduced for the Class Members, and it also offers the benefit of “strength in numbers”. If the Class Action succeeds in winning compensation, some of the compensation can be used to share the costs of the litigation across all the successful Class Members.
The Class Action procedure is also more efficient for the Court, because the legal and factual questions that are ‘common’ to all the claims only need to be determined once, rather than separately for each individual claim. After the common questions are resolved, the Court has procedures for dealing with any remaining individual issues affecting particular Class Members.
The end result is that the Class Action will eventually resolve all the claims of all the Class Members. In particular, if a Class Member is entitled to compensation, the Class Action procedure will result in payment of that compensation.
The Class Action is run for the benefit of all the Class Members, but it is the Lead Plaintiffs who give instructions to the lawyers in relation to the running of the case.
For a person to know whether they are a member of a class in a Class Action, they need to find out how the Class Members are defined in the case.
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The amount of compensation money for each Class Member is based on each Class Member’s individual experiences and circumstances.
The amount of compensation money for Class Members will be determined by a formula that has been approved by the court.
The amount you will be entitled to will depend on a number of factors, such as your mental health, the abuse you suffered, and personal history.
Again, all these things are subject to the supervision of the Court, and the primary test the Court applies in deciding the proper course is to ask what is ‘fair and reasonable having regard to the interests of the Class Members as a whole’.
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The National Redress Scheme (NRS) is a Commonwealth Government-funded compensation scheme. It is separate from, and very different to, the AYDC Class Action.
If a person has suffered sexual abuse in an institution, the NRS scheme may be available as a means of compensation.
Under the NRS, eligible claimants can access the following benefits:
a payment of up to $150,000.00 (depending on the type of abuse you suffered and the severity of that abuse according to NRS criteria)
access to counselling & psychological assistance from a service provider arranged through the NRS. If for some reason you are in a jurisdiction which has opted not to participate in NRS, a payment of $5000 for your psychological treatment can be made; and
a written apology and/or direct personal response from the institution responsible for the abuse.
If you would like to pursue NRS, Angela Sdrinis Legal can refer you to a specialised service that can assist you with an application.
It is important to understand that you can only make one application under the NRS for the abuse you suffered. If you accept an offer of money from NRS you cannot receive any other kind of payment for that abuse, for example from the AYDC Class Action.
If you are already a Class Member in the AYDC Class Action but you have made, or plan to make, an application to the NRS, please contact us immediately so that we can discuss with you any impact it might have on your ability to make a claim in the Class Action.
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The Commission of Inquiry is a State government-funded investigation into the handling of complaints of child sexual abuse in Tasmanian institutions.
Only part of the Inquiry relates to the AYDC. The Inquiry is separate to the AYDC Class Action but it will cover many similar issues.
The purpose of the Commission was to discover what went wrong in Tasmanian institutions regarding the handling of reports of sexual abuse, and what can be done to fix it for the future. The Inquiry did not require compensation to be paid by the Government for what happened in the past.
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Whether you are eligible to join the next Class Action will depend on your individual circumstances.
If you think you may be eligible, please contact our office via the form below, or by giving our Hobart office a call so that we can give you advice regarding a potential claim.