WorkSafe Victoria has charged the Department of Justice and Community Safety (DoJ) with breaches of the OHS Act after an October 2023 riot at the Malmsbury Youth Justice Centre left a worker and several young people injured.
WorkSafe alleges that the DoJ breached s.21 (1) of the OHS Act by failing to provide a safe working environment and s.21(2)(a) by failing to reduce the risk of occupational violence by implementing a safe system of work to prevent unauthorised access to buildings and security gates.
The DoJ has also been charged with a breach of s.23(1) of the OHS Act for failing to ensure that people other than employees were not exposed to health and safety risks.
At the time of the riot the centre, which was decommissioned in December 2023, had previously experienced assaults against staff and young people and were aware of the hazards of occupational violence and aggression.
The 2023 riot is alleged to have begun when inmates threatened two corrections officers, forcing them to open a storeroom from which the inmates armed themselves with equipment. Keys were then stolen from a corrections officer and used to access multiple areas of the facility. As a result of the incident a youth justice worker was injured. A number of inmates were also injured during the incident with three being taken to hospital.
The risks of detainees stealing keys had been mentioned in an earlier security review, but no changes had been made. The review followed a riot six years earlier when keys had been snatched and used in a mass escape.
Read more: WorkSafe Victoria | Dept charged after Malmsbury assaults