On an average night in Australia, there's around 800 young people locked up in youth detention. But what do we know from there? What are the conditions like inside those facilities? What support do young people get to turn their lives around? And who makes sure everything's running as it should be?

To answer those questions, meet Liana Buchanan. She's the principal commissioner at the Commission for Children and Young People in Victoria, which is the state's independent advocate for the safety and wellbeing of young people.

Here, she talks about the experiences of young people who find themselves in detention; about her team of volunteers who go inside prisons every month to scrutinise what's happening; about how misleading media stories labelling kids 'young thugs' can change the way people are treated in the justice system – but also about the positive policy progress we've made in Victoria that she's keen to protect.

Join our campaign for a more fair, humane and effective youth justice system at worthasecondchance.com.au, and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts to hear new conversations every second Wednesday.