The controversial youth detention unit at Casuarina prison, Unit 18, will remain open for a further three years while the government builds its $147 million replacement next to Banksia Hill.

Corrective Services Minister Paul Papalia and Corrective Services Commissioner Brad Royce unveiled final designs for the new facility, which will house the state’s most troubled and complex youth detainees, on Friday.

Papalia revealed the tender would be released next week, but it was likely the facility wouldn’t open until 2028 and Unit 18 would remain open until the new facility is complete.

The state converted the men’s wing Unit 18 at Casuarina into a youth detention facility in 2022 to remove disruptive young detainees from the Banksia Hill Detention Centre, but it has been plagued with issues

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