But Ms Stephen-Smith said she had been open and transparent about the steps she'd taken to stem alleged violence and other problems within the youth detention centre, and accused the media of selectively quoting her.

The failed censure motion, moved by Liberal leader Alistair Coe on Thursday, rebuked the minister for allegedly: failing to respond adequately to concerns about the centre; seeking to silence legitimate criticism by staff and detainees of its operation; and claiming violence will continue to be a feature of life at Bimberi.

Mr Coe said young people were coming out more "hardened" from Bimberi than when they went in.

Liberals' youth spokeswoman Elizabeth Kikkert said exposing inmates to trauma inside the centre left them returning to the community "more broken" than when they went in.

"It's not a justice centre, it's a training ground for adult corrections," Mrs Kikkert said.

Ms Stephen-Smith said she had initiated a taskforce to look at the progress of their 10-year youth justice reform, in part because of the allegations about Bimberi.

She said she had "nothing to hide" and was committed to being "as transparent as possible" about the operation of the youth justice centre.

"I take my responsibility to my constituents, the people of Canberra and particularly the vulnerable children, young people and families supported by my portfolio very seriously," Ms Stephen-Smith said.

"I have never made light of any incident at Bimberi and I have never said that practices at the centre could not be improved."

She said her quote about an attack on staff being an "isolated incident" was taken out of context in a Canberra Times report.

"It was a fairly long and comprehensive response that was printed in part and therefore did not convey the full meaning of my response," Ms Stephen-Smith said.

The article, published on March 15 2017, contained the following quotes from Ms Stephen-Smith:

Ms Stephen-Smith acknowledged there had been a "serious incident".

"The matter was reported immediately and the incident was referred to ACT Policing, the official visitor and the public advocate," she said.

"The Community Services Directorate is following processes set out in the relevant enterprise agreement to finalise this matter to ensure due process for all parties involved in the incident.

"My interest is in ensuring the safety of young people in Bimberi and the staff who work there, and in allowing the prescribed processes to be finalised.

"It is not appropriate at this point to make further comments about this process while an investigation is ongoing.

"As with all incidents of this nature, policies and procedures related to the incident were reviewed with staff by an external facilitator.

"All available staff attended forums to identify potential improvements in policy and processes resulting from the incident.

"As noted by official visitors, the centre is operating in an efficient and constructive manner and this was an isolated incident."

Ms Stephen-Smith said Bimberi staff were trained to deliver a "trauma-informed response" to the young people in their care.

"The Community Services Directorate takes seriously its obligations to support staff and to equip them with the skills and abilities to deal with the challenging situations that may sometimes arise in a detention centre," she said.

Chief Minister Andrew Barr put the censure motion down to pure politics and rejected any claim his minister was "resigned" to violence in the facility.

"It was constructive [to hear] how full quotes are not published in what passes as this city's newspaper," Mr Barr said.

Greens crossbencher Caroline Le Couteur helped the government scuttle the motion. Ms Le Couteur said she was satisfied there had been no "cover-up" at Bimberi.

Ms Le Couteur said Ms Stephen-Smith was doing what she saw "fit" to make Bimberi a better place.