Keeping juvenile offenders at a Victorian maximum security adult prison despite two court rulings to move them is a sign there are serious problems with the youth justice system, their advocates say.
A group of 11 youths will remain at Barwon Prison indefinitely after the state government on Thursday rebranded the unit where they are being held to a youth justice facility and remand centre.
By rebranding the jail's Grevillea unit, the government has beaten a court-imposed deadline to move the teenagers out of Barwon Prison by Friday afternoon.
The Court of Appeal on Wednesday ordered the government move the teenagers to a juvenile remand centre after it upheld an earlier court finding that the youths had been transferred to Barwon Prison unlawfully.
The group were transferred to the Grevillea unit after riots damaged the Malmsbury and Parkville youth detention centres in Novembers.
Human rights lawyers challenged the move at the Victorian Supreme Court, which ruled in the youths' favour and ordered the government move the teens.
But a stay was placed on the order while the government launched an appeal, which it ultimately lost.
Jesuit Social Services says if rebranding Grevillea was the only option the government had to fall back on, then serious questions need to be answered about the state of youth justice.
"The entire system is overcrowded and appears to have ground to a halt," chief executive Julie Edwards said on Friday.
She said 80 per cent or more of the young people in detention were on remand - meaning they hade not been convicted of an offence - and this was overwhelming these facilities.
Opposition spokesman John Pesutto believes the youths being held at Barwon Prison will continue fighting their detention.
"We expect the lawyers for the youths will bring the challenges if not today, then very shortly," he told AAP.
Mr Pesutto, who was legal counsel to former premier Denis Napthine, estimates the cases' legal costs could "well exceed $1 million" due to fees for the youths' lawyers, possible compensation if claims are later brought against authorities, and the government's own representation.
