Victoria's Department of Justice has permanently closed the unit two young men escaped from at the troubled Malmsbury Youth Justice Centre, the ABC can reveal.
Staff have said that in the days leading up to an escape from the facility, staff levels were critically low and bedroom windows were covered.
The ABC also received details from workers who had told centre management about the lack of staff, procedures not being followed and "increased stress".
Two young men smashed through the plaster ceiling of their cells in the admissions unit and escaped through the roof cavity of the centre, north-west of Melbourne, on August 6.
The ABC understood the facility was understaffed the night of the escape and there had not been a single night when the centre had been fully staffed over a recent 10-day period.
Sources said a minimum of 14 staff were needed for the overnight shift, but figures seen by the ABC showed that was not close to being achieved on several nights before and after the escape.
On two nights, there was half of the staff usually required for the night shift.
Since the escape, there were at least two nights when the base minimum of overnight staff were again not met, indicating an inability to properly staff the centre.
Detainees had also covered windows to their rooms meaning staff could not complete routine headcounts during their shifts.
In response to the ABC's detailed questions, the Department of Justice and Community Safety declined to address specific issues of ongoing staff shortages and cell window coverings.
"Investigations are underway to understand what led to these escapes and to prevent situations like this from happening again. As the matter is subject to an ongoing police investigation it would be inappropriate to comment further," a spokesperson said.
"The admissions unit at Malmsbury has been closed permanently."
Workers have complained of "severe anxiety" and "extra pressure" to keep units settled while understaffed, with one describing how they had experienced difficulty sleeping since the escape.
"Staff shortages this severe cause extra anxiety on all staff as there is extra pressure to keep units settled and not fight issues such as window coverings," a source said.
In the lead up to the August 6 escape there was a serious assault between young people in the facility.
"We had no support staff as we had close observations due to an earlier serious assault," the source said.
"Windows were covered which has been an ongoing issue that has been reported on daily."
The ABC has previously reported about frequent violence inside the centre.
Unit men escaped from not upgraded
The ABC understands a 2019 recommendation to upgrade the unit the two men escaped from was ignored.
Due to security concerns and the risk of escape, there were internal recommendations to upgrade the security and infrastructure of the unit, including the ceiling and roof.
The older building was not surrounded by a fence.
Premier Daniel Andrews said last week he would "follow up" the ABC's report that youth justice management had rejected recommendations to upgrade the admissions unit at Malmsbury three years ago.
But Mr Andrews's press office has since said the premier passed it on to the Youth Justice Minister, who declined to comment.
A review into how the two men escaped is underway.
The ABC understands that Youth Justice is focused on recruiting and retaining workers, with several squads of new staff commencing at youth justice centres. These include 25 new recruits that have started at Malmsbury since January 2022.
A Department of Justice spokesperson said serious incidents in youth prisons had reduced thanks to government funding.
"The Victorian government has invested more than $2 billion since 2014 to overhaul our youth justice system, including for staff supports, targeted behaviour support and programs, infrastructure upgrades, additional units at Parkville and Malmsbury and the construction of a new facility at Cherry Creek," they said.
"These reforms have helped to stabilise the youth justice system, with serious incidents and assaults in custody having reduced over the past four years."
