Former child detainees at a Tasmanian detention centre allege they were sexually abused by 55 former workers inside the controversial facility, a submission to a state inquiry has revealed.
The submission provides a damning picture of the horrors taking place behind the locked gates of Ashley Youth Detention Centre, compiling the accounts of nearly 200 clients of Angela Sdrinis Legal.
It details how one former worker is accused of sexually abusing at least 11 children at Ashley over the course of nearly three decades.
Another staff member is described by 26 claimants as using sexual violence and physical intimidation, including "hogtying" and forced masturbation, as a tool to control children.
The dates of the alleged incidents span from recent years back to the 1970s.
Angela Sdrinis prepared the submission for the Commission of Inquiry into the Tasmanian Government's Responses to Child Sexual Abuse in Institutional Settings, and her firm is now preparing to lodge a class action against the Tasmanian government.
She says Ashley Youth Detention Centre is among the worst cases of institutional abuse she's ever seen.
"We're talking about nearly a hundred years of independent experts and people outside of Ashleys saying there are some real problems in this place," she said.
"Successive governments have known that Ashley has never worked."
Former detainees detail alleged routine of abuse
Several detainees have told Background Briefing about the abuse they were allegedly subjected to at the detention centre.
Kyle*, who was 10 years old at the time of incarceration, says he was first sexually assaulted by a group of inmates on his first night.
"They basically bashed me to the point where I'd just given in and they abused me like, I just, you know, I said I couldn't fight anymore like it was just, I'd just give up."
He said that the sexual abuse was perpetrated by workers on excursions.
"There'd be no signing of paperwork or nothing like you just literally get up, walk out, jump in the car and leave," he said.
"On several of these trips, I was sexually abused by staff."
Kyle is now seeking justice for the pain and suffering he experienced at Ashley.
Another former inmate, Mary*, was detained at the centre in her early teens.
She says she wasn't allowed to wear a bra and was left unsupervised in therapeutic programs with the boys.
But the first time she was assaulted was allegedly by a worker.
"So within the first month of me being there, I was touched up by one of the workers and I knew it wasn't okay for him to do that," she said.
"It was a really horrible experience and I actually spoke up about it."
Mary says the perpetrator was given two weeks paid leave after her allegation was made, before returning to the facility where he supervised her.
Mary complained to the state's ombudsman that the behaviour of the worker made her feel uncomfortable, but she received a reply stating the matter would be dealt with internally by the detention centre.
Soon after, she was sexually assaulted again by the male detainees.
"The second time I was pretty badly assaulted and there was an incident where I was left alone with boys,' she said.
"There were no workers present. There were no cameras even, and that was pretty horrible."
The main perpetrator, who was 18 years old at the time, was transferred to an adult prison.
Mary says no medical attention, counselling or support was offered after either of these incidents.
She says the sexual assaults continued on a weekly basis and she was even offered contraceptive pills by the staff at Ashley Detention Centre.
Mary is now one of more than 150 former detainees who has joined the Angela Sdrinis Legal class action against the Tasmanian government.
Commission of Inquiry set in motion
Background Briefing asked Tasmania Police if anyone had been arrested in relation to these allegations and in a statement, Tasmania Police said, "no charges have been laid at this stage".
Last March, the Tasmanian government established the Commission of Inquiry into the Tasmanian Government's Responses to Child Sexual Abuse in Institutional Settings.
In the initial hearing, counsel assisting the inquiry, Maree Norton, described allegations of multiple perpetrators among staff at Ashley who have sexually abused children.
She flagged that the inquiry would explore allegations that "staff at Ashley have covered up the abuse, that they have destroyed records or failed to report abuse at all".
Late last year, Premier Peter Gutwein announced the centre would be closed within three years and said it would be replaced by two smaller centres with a more therapeutic model of care.
The Department of Justice declined to respond to specific questions about the alleged incidents at Ashley's.
A spokesperson for the Tasmanian government told Background Briefing the government had been advised: "there are no staff currently working at Ashley Youth Detention Centre that have been identified as an alleged perpetrator of sexual abuse."
Ombudsman Tasmania said they were unable to comment on specific complaints, and that "in the case of sexual assault, if the matter was referred back to the agency, Ombudsman Tasmania would monitor the agency's response".
*The names of former detainees have been changed for legal reasons.
