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.
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.
