AN investigation has been ordered into the escape of two teenagers armed with a knife from a boot camp in far north Queensland.

The boy, 13, and girl, 14, held a carer at the Kuranda facility for young offenders, near Cairns, at knifepoint before running away late on Sunday.

Police say the pair then broke into a nearby home and threatened a woman with the knife, before being arrested about 4am (AEST) on Monday.

State Attorney-General Jarrod Bleijie has ordered an investigation.

Mr Bleijie says the girl had been at the boot camp for around two weeks and was showing signs of progress.

"Unfortunately the boy, who arrived on Friday, has involved her in this," he told 4BC radio.

Mr Bleijie said the government has a "no nonsense approach" when it came to the boot camps and the two teenagers will be sent back to detention. "The boot camps are all about diversion," he said.

"We're trying to turn the revolving door cycle around of youth in detention centres, and try and get them on a job and education, but it's a no questions asked, no-nonsense approach."

The pair were the first and only youth offenders to be enrolled in the Kuranda-based boot camp which opened earlier this month.

Shadow Treasurer and Member for Mulgrave Curtis Pitt says Mr Bleijie needs to guarantee the safety of Kuranda residents.

"They've put dangerous people in a residential area and what we want to know is have the health and safety guidelines been followed," he told reporters in Cairns on Monday.

Mr Pitt is calling for a review of the program to determine whether the firm that runs the boot camp, Safe Way, is meeting standards.

Tablelands Regional Council Mayor Rosa Lee Long said residents were concerned and she would pass their concerns to the state government.

"My understanding is that if (the teenagers) abuse the contract they signed up to, then they will be dealt with much more severely by the government," she told AAP.

"In a case like this, I think they do need to make an example of this sort of behaviour."

Ms Long would not be drawn on whether she thought the camp should be shut down.

Another boot camp opened on the Gold Coast in January.

Premier Campbell Newman announced in March that more camps are planned for Townsville, Rockhampton and the Fraser Coast by September.

Youths spend four weeks at the camps cooking, cleaning, doing physical activities and studying while under constant surveillance.

The boy has been charged with eight offences including two counts of attempted robbery.

The girl has been charged with five offences.

Both will be dealt with under the Youth Justice Act.

Originally published as Probe ordered into Qld boot camp escape