Tasmanians who were abused as children in the notorious Ashley youth detention centre have reached an in-principle agreement to settle their class action with the state government for $75 million, their lawyer says.
The class action, which was filed in the Supreme Court in 2022, involved 129 former detainees who were at the facility between 1960 and 2023.
It was alleged they suffered, witnessed or were threatened with sexual abuse, serious physical abuse and false imprisonment.
"The compensation will be a tangible acknowledgement of the wrongdoing," lawyer Angela Sdrinis, who led the class action, said.
"And that's really, really important to survivors, to have the government say, 'We've heard your story. We believe you.'"
In 2023, a commission of inquiry into abuse in Tasmanian government-run institutions heard stories of abuse and neglect at the facility and urged it be closed.
Despite calls from youth justice advocates to shut Ashley, the Liberal government say they are working on a timeframe to close the centre by mid-2026.
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