The Wacol Youth Remand Centre is to house 76 beds with completion set for later this year.
Originally planned to house 50 youth, the design and construction will be fast-tracked and will be completed in a single stage rather than separate stages.
Queensland Police Service in close consultation with the Department of Youth Justice and partners has specially designed the state-of-the-art facility to best support young people in custody while hoping to reduce the number of young people in watchhouses and support stronger access to education and therapeutic services.
Located on the Wacol Police Complex, the centre is strategically located between Brisbane and West Moreton youth detention centres, allowing easy access to educational, medical, health and other services.
The facility will be operated by the Department of Youth Justice and house young people in detention exclusively until the new youth detention centres open in Woodford and Cairns.
Premier Steven Miles said the Centre will ease pressure while extra detention centres are built. “With more Police and targeted high visibility police operations taking place around the state, we are seeing an increase in arrets and offenders in custody,” Miles said.
“With its close proximity to the Wacol Police Complex, young people will have access to the education, health care and rehabilitation.”
