The staff at Adelaide's youth detention centre feared for their lives and had to use plastic chairs as shields to defend themselves as two teenagers allegedly attacked them, the Public Service Association says.
Two 17-year-old male residents have been charged with property damage and aggravated affray after the incident at the Kurlana Tapa Youth Justice Centre in Cavan on Monday night.
The incident occurred about 8 pm after the two boys allegedly refused to return to their rooms from the recreation area within their accommodation block.
The Department of Human Services said about $5,000 was caused to the centre's kitchen area, but no-one was injured.
Natasha Brown, General Secretary of Public Service Association SA, who represents workers at the centre, believes that the incident is a result of understaffing at the centre, which has forced residents to be locked in their rooms for up to 23 hours a day.
They are so short-staffed on a regular basis that residents are left locked in their rooms for extended periods of time because they don't have enough staff to open up and run the centre.
This obviously creates agitation and aggression among the young people who don't like to be locked up for that length of time, and they have taken their frustration out on our members. Ms Brown said over the weekend residents were only allowed out of their rooms for about an hour.
She said that the issues with chronic understaffing predated COVID but the department failed to address the issue, recruit more staff or provide personal protective equipment.
She said that these kinds of incidents will only increase.
A spokeswoman for the department said COVID 19 and influenza had impacted staffing at the centre, with seven employees off sick on Monday night.
The accommodation units operated under modified routines because of unplanned staff shortages. They said residents were asked to return to their rooms earlier than usual.
The department is in the process of recruiting more staff for the centre, and is working with the union on staffing matters.
Ms Brown said the Department of Human Services recently purchased shields for staff to protect themselves during such incidents, but had not made them available to workers.
She said that our members were forced to defend themselves with plastic chairs to use them as shields while real safety equipment was locked in a cupboard that they didn't have access to.
She said she hoped that the issues would be addressed as a matter of urgency when the union meets with the minister next week.
The department recently purchased personal protective equipment and would soon roll out accredited training programs in its use to ensure the safety of staff and residents.