Responding to the Northern Territory government’s planned introduction of a suite of amendments to the Youth Justice Act 2005 and Youth Justice Regulations 2006, Amnesty International Australia Indigenous Rights Campaigner Kacey Teerman says,
“The Northern Territory government claims that the introduction of these new laws are needed to respond to an incident of violence, but they cannot just abandon their obligations under human rights law.
“The NT government have a responsibility to uphold the human rights of all Territorians, including the rights of the child to not be detained except in cases of absolute last resort and to not be subjected to practices of torture, such as spit hoods.”
Amnesty International Australia Indigenous Rights Campaigner Kacey Teerman
“The NT government have a responsibility to uphold the human rights of all Territorians, including the rights of the child to not be detained except in cases of absolute last resort and to not be subjected to practices of torture, such as spit hoods.
“Amnesty International holds serious concerns over recent reports that 20 children in NT youth detention facilities have self-harmed in the last six months. Youth detention centres in the Northern Territory are already over- flowing, putting the already vulnerable children at even greater risk.
“By removing the principle that children should only be detained as an absolute last resort, Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro is condemning more Territory children, the overwhelming majority of whom will be Aboriginal, to the trauma and lasting harm of incarceration. This does not make our communities safer or NT children and young people less likely to offend.
“The 2017 Royal Commission into the Protection and Detention of Children in the NT had extensive recommendations regarding the safety of officers, which included the use of protective personal equipment. Putting children in spit hoods is a torturous, dehumanising practice that causes lasting trauma, particularly for a child who is acutely distressed and unable to regulate their emotions and behaviour.
“Amnesty Australia calls on the Northern Territory government to abandon these reactionary, punitive measures and to instead invest in evidence-based diversionary programmes for young people.”
Kacey Teerman
“Amnesty Australia calls on the Northern Territory government to abandon these reactionary, punitive measures and to instead invest in evidence-based diversionary programmes for young people.”
In 2022, the UN Committee Against Torture condemned practices used against children at the Don Dale Youth Detention Centre in the Northern Territory, accusing Australia of a “clear breach” of its obligations under the Optional Protocol to the Convention Against Torture, which Australia ratified in 2017.
The United Nations have called on Australia to increase the minimum age of criminal responsibility and to immediately halt the use of solitary confinement for children in youth detention.
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