Daily life in detention
Eating
Each day we provide you with breakfast, morning tea, lunch, afternoon tea and dinner.
The kitchen staff will cook most of the meals in the detention centre’s kitchen and deliver meals to your section each day as well as fresh bread and milk.
Sleeping
The detention centre has a number of different accommodation areas. Each area has a number of bedrooms, a kitchen, lounge and dining room, quiet area and verandah. One of these sections is where you’ll stay while you’re at the centre.
There’ll be other people sharing the section with you. You’ll each have your own room. You don’t have to worry as you will be safe in your room. You don’t have to share with anyone else unless you want to.
Your room has a bed, toilet, shower, desk and shelf. We’ll provide you with sheets, blankets a pillow and toiletries.
School
Each day you will go to our onsite school. It’s just like one you would go to in your community with teachers and a principal. It’s called the Brisbane or Cleveland Youth Education and Training Centre depending on the centre where you are staying.
We have weekend, afternoon and holiday programs like art, music, Indigenous dance, sport, ceramics, leatherwork, personal grooming and more. We hold events like cultural days. During NAIDOC Week, we celebrate the achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
Sport
Most days you’ll get the chance to play sport with other people in your section. We have a sports centre, basketball court, football oval and swimming pool.
Money
You’ll receive pocket money each week which you can use to buy snack foods and other things such as toiletries, magazines and CDs (this is called ‘buy ups’). The rules for ‘buy ups’ will depend on the centre where you are staying.
All your money goes into a trust account (like a bank account) and friends and family can deposit money into this account when they visit you, or they can send cheques, or money orders in the mail.
Daily routine
For most of the day you’ll be busy at school and in culture, sport, recreational and other learning programs. Each day you’ll have a routine to follow—you will have to do certain things at set times.
Brisbane Youth Detention Centre
Here is an example of what you might do on a normal weekday (Monday–Friday) at Brisbane Youth Detention Centre:
- 7am
- Out of bed, shower, dress, clean your room
- 8am
- Breakfast, chores
- 9am
- School or program
- 10.30am
- Morning tea
- 11.50am
- School or program
- 12.20pm
- Lunch
- 1pm
- School or program
- 2.45pm
- Rest in your room
- 3.30pm
- Afternoon tea and afternoon program
- 5.30pm
- Dinner, chores and section time
- 7.45pm
- Bedtime
Here is an example of what you might do on a weekend at Brisbane Youth Detention Centre:
- 8am
- Out of bed, shower, dress, clean your room
- 9am
- Breakfast and section activities
- 10.30am
- Programs
- 11.40am
- Morning tea
- 11.50am
- Programs
- 1pm
- Lunch
- 1.30pm
- Programs
- 2.40pm
- Rest in your room
- 3.30pm
- Programs
- 5.30pm
- Dinner
- 7.45pm
- Bedtime
Cleveland Youth Detention Centre
Here is an example of what you might do on a normal weekday (Monday–Friday) at Cleveland Youth Detention Centre:
- 7am
- Out of bed, shower, dress and clean bedroom
- 8am
- Breakfast, every day jobs
- 9am
- School or program
- 10.10am
- Morning tea
- 10.30am
- School or program
- 12.50pm
- Lunch
- 1.30pm
- School or program
- 2.30pm
- Afternoon tea
- 3pm
- Afternoon program
- 6pm
- Dinner, every day jobs and unit time
- 7.30pm
- Bedtime
It is a little different on the weekends and public holidays:
- 7am
- Wake up, shower, dress and clean bedroom
- 9am
- Breakfast and unit activities
- 10.30am
- Programs
- 11.40am
- Morning tea
- 10.50am
- Programs
- 1pm
- Lunch
- 1.30pm
- Programs
- 2.40pm
- Rest in your room
- 3.30pm
- Programs
- 5.30pm
- Dinner
- 7.45pm
- Bedtime
Remember there are times during the day and the night when you will be locked in your room.
