The last of 15 prison escapees are behind bars as the Victorian government scrambles to reassure the public "sweeping changes" are in motion to fix the state's crippled youth justice system.
The final two inmates were arrested in Colac, two hours west of Melbourne, on Thursday afternoon, after a police pursuit and short foot chase.
The state's Youth Minister, Jenny Mikakos, spent much of a 20-minute press conference promising an overhaul of the system, echoing the government's response following a number of riots at both the Malmsbury and Parkville youth prisons over the past two years.
Amid opposition calls for her resignation she said significant changes would be made.
"We are seeing far more violent offenders coming into our youth justice system than has been the case in the past and obviously the system needs to change and move accordingly," she said
"Victoria is going to get a fit-for-purpose, high-security youth justice system and there will be more beds in that system than we have at the moment."
The state's public order taskforce was meeting on Thursday afternoon with "nothing off the table".
The last arrests came after five other escapees were caught at various locations across the state on Thursday morning after 15 broke out of the Malmsbury centre on Wednesday.
They allegedly stole cars and led police on a number of high speed pursuits across regional Victoria and Melbourne, most of which were called off in the interest of public safety.
The escapees allegedly drove on the wrong side of a number of major roads and freeways, forcing motorists to take evasive action.
Police said they believed a number of people had been "psychologically harmed" and some had minor injuries as a result of the crime spree allegedly perpetrated by the youths.
They allege the teens hijacked cars, robbed people on the street and were involved in an aggravated burglary, arming themselves with knives and a baseball bat.
Massive police numbers were needed to track the escapees, who broke out of the detention centre after assaulting a staff member and stealing a pass.
"We've been called to Parkville and Malmsbury a number of occasions over the last few months and every time that occurs it's a drain on our resources," Deputy Commissioner Andrew Crisp told reporters in Melbourne.
Four of the teens were arrested about 8am in Ashburton in Melbourne's southeast and another boy, 17, was captured at a property in the Ballarat suburb of Redan about noon.
Eight were taken into custody before nightfall on Wednesday after their car collided with a police car and two other vehicles.
Three have been moved to a juvenile unit at the maximum security Barwon Prison and more could follow, Ms Mikakos says.
The Malmsbury facility was handed back to the Department of Health and Human Services on Wednesday night but police expect to remain for a number of days as repairs are made.
Police said the teens were yet to be charged.
