Kariong Juvenile Justice Centre at Kariong was built in 1991. It was the first purpose-built secure unit for young people who were deemed difficult to manage in other centres and those with a history of escape. It was also used for assessment purposes for young people charged with very serious offences. In 2004 Kariong was removed from the Department of Juvenile Justice and transferred to the Department of Corrective Services and renamed Kariong Juvenile Correctional Centre.
An adjacent centre, Frank Baxter Detention Centre, was built in October 1999 for male offenders aged 16-21 who have generally been convicted of less serious offences. Mt Penang closed in that year.
Sources used to compile this entry: 'Youth Justice NSW Centres', in Juvenile Justice, Juvenile Justice: Department of Attorney General and Justice, 2013, http://www.juvenile.justice.nsw.gov.au/Pages/youth-justice/about/youth-justice-centres/youth-justice-centres.aspx; Besser, Linton and Jacobsen, Geesche, 'Juvenile prisoners the most violent', The Sydney Morning Herald, 31 December 2009, http://www.smh.com.au/national/juvenile-prisoners-the-most-violent-20091230-ljy2.html; 'Mount Penang Juvenile Justice Centre', in State Records Authority of New South Wales website, State of New South Wales through the State Records Authority of NSW 2016, https://www.records.nsw.gov.au/agency/486; NSW Council for Civil Liberties, Stand Up For Our Rights: Juveniles in Detention, NSW Council for Civill Liberties, 2013, http://web.archive.org/web/20140214001618/http://www.nswccl.org.au/issues/prisoners/juveniles.php; Thinee, Kristy and Bradford, Tracy, Connecting Kin: Guide to Records, A guide to help people separated from their families search for their records [completed in 1998], New South Wales Department of Community Services, Sydney, New South Wales, 1998, https://clan.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/connectkin_guide.pdf.
Prepared by: Naomi Parry
Created: 27 April 2011, Last modified: 18 July 2018