For more than a year, whistleblowers have been documenting
the violence inside the troubled NSW juvenile justice system.
Here are some entries…
October, 2018: A radicalised 17-year-old bites, head-butts and throws a chair at three juvenile justice
officers, each requiring medical treatment.
Dec 5-17, 2018: Several days of unrest at Cobham with seven assaults on staff, resulting in one officer
being taken to hospital with a suspected cracked vertebrae. Other staff are kicked and spat on. Another
five incidents involve assaults between detainees themselves, with one king-hitting another.
“Staff are concerned that we are not far away from a death of a staff member or detainee.”
Dec 12, 2018: Public Service Association members at Cobham Juvenile Justice Centre move a vote of
confidence in the Juvenile Justice NSW executive. The vote follows a five hour stop-work meeting.
Dec 19, 2018: A detainee at Frank Baxter Juvenile Justice Centre bites a youth worker on the arm. Over
at Cobham, another detainee who weeks earlier was transferred from Frank Baxter is already causing
trouble, assaulting two staff at Cobham.
Dec 21, 2018: A sex offender in custody at Frank Baxter Juvenile Justice Centre for aggravated rape is
allowed to go on a group excursion to Umina Beach, on the Central Coast. He is later found chatting to a
woman on the beach after walking away from his supervisors.
Jan 2, 2019: A detainee claimed he was sexually assaulted in a pool at Frank Baxter Juvenile Justice
Centre by several other detainees.
Jan 9, 2019: Public Service Association members conduct a statewide stop-work meeting. All detention
centres move a vote of no confidence in the management executive team.
Jan 10, 2019: High-risk detainees scale roof of Cobham Juvenile Justice Centre.
Feb 3, 2019: A teenage Muslim convert who threatened to behead a police officer is now under extreme
surveillance after being designated a “national security interest inmate”. The 17-year-old joins five other
young terrorist-related offenders within the state’s juvenile justice system.
Feb 7, 2019: A detainee at Frank Baxter Juvenile Justice Centre is allegedly sexually assaulted by two
detainees at the swimming pool.
Feb 12, 2019: The state government closes all detention centre pools. Staff fear the action will increase
unrest, especially out in the centres in Wagga, Dubbo and Grafton where temperatures soar to above
40C.
Feb 13, 2019: A five-hour riot unfolds at the Riverina Juvenile Justice Centre. Staff are attacked with
glass and debris.
“This is now an everyday occurrence in an agency that is faced with a daily crisis, serious incidents and
violence,” an officer says.
“It is literally out of control.”

 Feb 15, 2019: The victim of an earlier sexual assault at Frank Baxter Juvenile Justice Centre is taken to
hospital by ambulance after being knocked out during a game of football. Staff believe he is the victim of
a payback for dobbing in his assailant.
Feb 24, 2019: Two detainees from Frank Baxter are taken on an outing to North Entrance Surf Life
Saving Club. The following day, February 25, the licensed club contacts the department to report a
money bag containing the day’s taking is gone.
CCTV footage shows one of the detainees stealing a bag from behind the till. Back at the juvenile justice
centre, staff are dealing with a major incident whereby a detainee is holding another detainee by the
shorts while whispering in his ear. The detainee claims he was being sexually assaulted.
“Baxter is having major problems controlling sexualised behaviour,” an officer says.
March, 2019: A detainee at Frank Baxter Juvenile Justice Centre scales the roof before threating to kinghit someone. He eventually comes down and is placed on a management plan. The following day, he
king-hits an officer. The staffer is knocked out and taken to hospital.
Three staff at Reiby Juvenile Justice Centre are assaulted in separate incidents. One detainee scales the
roof and damages infrastructure.
April 3, 2019: Two staff at Cobham Juvenile Justice Centre are assaulted by two detainees. One officer is
bitten on the leg. Another officer is taken to hospital for stiches to a gash on his forehead.
Over at Riverina, a staff member is assaulted by a 14-year-old with a plastic knife.
April, 2019: A teenage girl is mistakenly dropped off at an alleged “crack house” after being released on
bail from juvenile justice. The mistake is only realised the next day after carers contact the department
to ask where she is.
A teenager being held on terror-related charges at Frank Baxter Juvenile Justice Centre spends almost
three days with a fellow inmate on the roof. The detainee is later transferred to Cobham.
Another detainee was charged after failing to return to Riverina Juvenile Justice Centre after attending
TAFE. The detainee was on the run for three days.
April 14, 2019: A detainee at Reiby Juvenile Justice Centre attempts to stab staff with a knife.
April 15, 2019: A detainee on terror-related charges at Frank Baxter Juvenile Justice Centre has spent 48
hours on top of a roofline.
May 1, 2019: Four teenagers go on a four-hour rampage at Orana Juvenile Justice Centre where they
scale the roof, smash the ceiling and hurl broken glass and frozen drink bottles at staff, leading to
hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of damage.
June 6, 2019: Five detainees assault four staff at Frank Baxter, with one requiring hospital treatment.
June 8, 2019: A staffer at Cobham is hospitalised after being attacked without warning.
June 9, 2019: About 13 detainees scale the roof at Frank Baxter and enter the roof cavity. The incident
lasts from 5pm on Sunday until mid-afternoon Monday. Statewide meetings are held by the PSA with

 staff at four of the largest centres – Baxter, Cobham, Grafton and Riverina – walking out. Staff are
ordered back to work by the Industrial Relations Commission.
June, 2019: A juvenile justice officer at Orana is hit in the face with a claw hammer.
June 15, 2019: Three teenage inmates are transferred to adult jail after causing tens of thousands of
dollars’ worth of damage during a two-day rampage at Frank Baxter Juvenile Justice Centre.
July, 2019: Juvenile Justice NSW executive director Melanie Hawyes takes on a new policy-based role.
Head of operations, Stephen Southgate, takes on the role of acting executive director.