WorkSafe Victoria takes legal action against Government department following assault on youth justice worker

WorkSafe Victoria has laid charges against the State's Department of Justice and Community Safety over an alleged failure to shield staff from occupational violence at a youth justice centre in central Victoria. Charges stem from an October 2023 incident where a youth justice worker and several other people were assaulted inside the facility.

Key facts at a glance

• Who is charged: the Victorian Government department accountable for youth justice services, custodial services and related community services.
• What occurred: one employee plus several other individuals were attacked at a youth detention centre in October 2023.
• Alleged breaches: a charge under section 21(1) of the Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004 (Vic), together with an alleged contravention of section 21(2)(a).
• What next: a filing hearing is listed at Kyneton Magistrates' Court later this month.

What WorkSafe alleges

The department faces one accusation under section 21(1) for failing to provide and maintain a working environment that is safe and without risks to health, "so far as is reasonably practicable".

Prosecutors also claim section 21(2)(a) was contravened by "failing to reduce the risk of occupational violence by providing and maintaining a safe system of work to prevent unauthorised access to buildings and security gates". Access control sits at the heart of secure detention services, because unscreened entry can expose employees delivering rehabilitation services to sudden aggression.

Why occupational violence keeps landing duty holders in court

Occupational violence remains among the most persistent hazards across justice, correctional services and human services settings. Employees in such environments manage distressed young people, often with little warning and few escape routes.

Under Victorian legislation, organisations running secure facilities carry identical duties to any other employer. Public sector agencies delivering essential services receive no exemption, and regulators have shown clear willingness to test how well safety controls hold up in practice.

Practical lessons for employers

Any organisation providing high-risk care or supervision can reduce exposure by tightening a handful of fundamentals. Each measure below reflects the type of hazard WorkSafe Victoria inspectors routinely examine.

• Control site entry: audit gates, doors and perimeter hardware, then log all visitors to areas where custody services operate.
• Match staffing to risk: rosters for residential services should reflect client acuity rather than budget convenience.
• Train for de-escalation: refresher training services build confidence before an incident, not afterwards.
• Report and investigate: near misses within custodial or clinical services deserve identical scrutiny to injuries.
• Consult employees: elected representatives usually know exactly where support services fall short.
• Review documentation: policies, procedures and registers must mirror how services are actually delivered on site.

Employers can strengthen governance with ready-made resources such as our worker and contractor manuals, which document responsibilities spanning supervision, security services and emergency response.

Teams preparing site-specific paperwork may also find the Victorian architectural SWMS pack useful when mapping controls for contractors visiting secure premises, alongside a first aid register that tracks trained responder coverage and first aid services availability.

What happens next

A filing hearing is scheduled at Kyneton Magistrates' Court later this month. Further detail on the prosecution has been published by WorkSafe Victoria, and safety professionals across the sector will watch closely as the court weighs departmental systems against statutory safety obligations.

Government agencies and private operators alike should treat the matter as a prompt to revisit workplace safety arrangements before a regulator does so on their behalf. Earlier reporting appears in our coverage of the charge laid after an assault on a justice centre employee and the hospitalisation of a worker after an alleged attack at a Victorian youth centre.

Comparable prosecutions, including charges filed against a construction firm after a fall, confirm that regulators pursue safety failures across every industry.