The Victorian government won't say how much it has spent defending its decision to keep teenage offenders in an adult prison, but the figure is set to rise if it appeals.
Supreme Court Justice John Dixon has declared detaining youths in a wing of the maximum security Barwon adult prison unlawful and he ordered them to be moved out by 5pm on Friday.
But the government acted in advance of that order, removing half the youths on Thursday night and transferred the rest to a newly-built unit in a youth detention centre on Friday morning.
A group of youths were sent to a unit at Barwon after riots in 2016 severely damaged the youth centre in Parkville.
They are now back at Parkville, in a unit that is still part of a larger construction site because the rebuild is not yet complete.
Premier Daniel Andrews would not disclose on Friday how much money the state had spent defending its moving of the youths to the adult jail, as it may appeal the lasted court decision.
He took the question on notice at a Victorian budget estimates hearing at state parliament on Friday.
"I can't give you an answer to the legal costs question because there may well be further costs incurred, they will be reported in the normal way though," he said.
The Andrews Labor government put the youths into Barwon late last year, saying they had no choice because parts of the Parkville facility had been trashed in riots.
The Human Rights Law Centre took the state government to the Supreme Court, which ordered the teens be removed.
The Labor government responded by reclassifying the adult prison's Grevillea unit as a youth justice facility and leaving the youths at Barwon.
This prompted another, successful, legal challenge by the HRLC in the Supreme Court.
HRLC lawyer Alina Leikin told reporters outside the court on Friday she was hopeful the latest court orders would "put an end to what has been a terrible mistake".
Ms Leikin said it was too early to consider seeking compensation for the youths, despite flagging it as a possibility on Thursday.
Mr Andrews told reporters no legal advice had been received about how much compensation any potential claims from the teens might cost, should they be made.
Repairs and construction at Parkville are still underway, but it's understood the Eastern Hill unit, where the offenders have been sent, was almost completed before the youths returned.
The government says 16 youths were held in Barwon - 15 on remand and one who has been sentenced.
The HRLC says it represented in court 15 youth offenders who were inside Barwon.
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