This facility just north of Hobart was opened in September 2011 and closed only six months later. The facility is designed to fit 400 singles. 

In March 2013 this facility was re-named an 'APOD', alternative place of detention (because according to the Govt and DIAC, 'children are not held in detention centres') and has been the main location for the detention of unaccompanied minors. Boys were moved from remote WA (Leonora) to Pontville. DIAC statistics do not provide a breakdown of numbers in each so called 'APOD'. By June 2013 there were close to 300 teenage boys detained in this location, as well as children as young as 11years old. By the end of August we understand that over 210 of the boys (including the youngest) have been transferred out of the facility and into group homes, known as community detention.  Since early September 2013 there have been no asylum seekers detained at this facility. 

TASS, Tasmanian Asylum Seeker Support has worked tirelessly to match up trained volunteers with detained asylum seekers to provide a degree of community support, outside contact and reprieve from the monotony of detention. Most of the children detained here received education via the local Polytechnic College, some attended local primary schools. 

In May the government's announced that families would be released from detention on Bridging Visas (with no work rights). This coupled with a 10month halt on processing (therefore people not moving out of community detention houses and on to their protection visas) and a budget cut to areas such as community detention, has led ChilOut to be incredibly concerned that unaccompanied minors will be forgotten and will spend longer and longer in secure detention facilities such as Pontville.  This has definitely been the case until Minister Burke took office, We commend the Minister for his swift actions releasing these boys and finding more community detention places. However the fact remains that such decisions are at the whim of the Minister of the day, legislative protections are needed for these children and they need an independent guardian (not the Immigration Minister).

Local Mayor's comments at the centre's re-opening