Teenagers as young as 16 could linger in Victoria's maximum security adult jail for up to a year if a court upholds the government's decision to move them there.
Lawyers for 12 juvenile offenders say the state government acted unlawfully when it transferred the teenagers to Barwon maximum security prison, and are challenging the decision in the Victorian Supreme Court.
The teens were among a group of young offenders transferred to the Grevillea unit within Barwon prison in November after riots damaged the Malmsbury and Parkville youth detention facilities.
Several of the 40 youths are accused of being ringleaders in the riots.
The Grevillea unit is being operated as a youth remand centre and youth justice custodial centre, and is managed by the Department of Health and Human Services with the help of Corrections Victoria.
Even if the juveniles are being held separately from adult offenders, Grevillea is still an adult prison and no place for children, says their lawyer.
"It walks like a duck, it quacks like a duck, it looks like a duck. Everyone knows it's a duck, and the executive (government) says it's a lyre bird," Brian Walters QC told the Victorian Supreme Court on Monday.
Mr Walters said juveniles at Grevillea cannot access the educational or rehabilitation programs usually provided in youth detention.
The youths are effectively being held in isolation for security and safety reasons because Barwon is not set up for children.
"It has long been recognised that an adult prison is very different from the kind of facility appropriate for children," Mr Walters said in his opening.
"The executive, panicked by perceived urgency, have sought to get around legal limitations ... by rebranding an adult prison and calling a spade a galah."
The barrister also said the government appeared to be punishing the teens accused of rioting.
Mr Walters told Justice Greg Garde that in a November 17 press release about the prison transfer, Families and Children Minister Jenny Mikakos said "the Andrews government is sending a very clear message that this disgraceful behaviour won't be tolerated".
None of the juveniles have been found guilty of rioting offences, says Human Rights Law Centre advocacy director Ruth Barson.
She says the government plans to keep the youths at Barwon until its Parkville youth facility is rebuilt.
"They've given the indication of months, if not up to a year," Ms Barson said outside court.
"Children do not belong behind the same razor wire as Victoria's most notorious criminals."
The trial before Justice Garde will resume on Tuesday.
