Overview
- Workers at multiple youth detention centres staged a walk‑off that left skeleton crews on Thursday after the union cited hundreds of assaults and threats against staff over the past year.
- Staff in south‑east centres returned to work late Thursday after nearly six hours of negotiations but unions say core safety and resourcing concerns remain unresolved.
- Departmental data reported by media show three of four south‑east facilities are operating above safe capacity, which staff and advocates say fuels understaffing and lockdowns.
- Advocates allege children were held in near‑continuous lockdowns in late May that limited showers, education and rehabilitative services and may meet international definitions of solitary confinement.
- The Queensland government has sought an urgent Industrial Relations Commission hearing to test the strike's legality while enterprise bargaining talks continue before the agreement expires at the end of July.