Join our Demonstration on Friday at 5pm outside the gates of Don Dale, to demand its closure. This is a recurring event happening each Friday.
Over 80,000 Australians have signed the petition to stop locking up 10-13 year olds.
Amnesty’s Darwin Action Group will join the Close Don Dale NOW Coalition at the Demonstration and will speak of the importance of Raising the Age of criminal responsibility to keep kids out of prison.
The number of children in the dangerous Don Dale Youth Detention Centre in Darwin, Northern Territory has skyrocketed due to harmful new bail reforms.
Don Dale is dangerous. Witnesses on the ground have told Amnesty International Australia that kids need to huddle in corners of their cells to avoid being rained on, and are being forced to stay in their cells for 9-hours a day due to short-staffing.
Remember, the Royal Commission into youth justice in the Northern Territory recommended that Don Dale close, and be replaced with a smaller, therapeutic facility — in 2018!
Instead of spending millions on expanding prisons, the NT Government needs to do everything they can to keep kids out of prison. Prison doesn’t work. We know that time locked up increases the likelihood of young offenders reoffending and being repeatedly incarcerated in the youth and then adult prison systems.
Indigenous and community-led prevention and diversion programs that address the underlying causes of crime are more effective at reducing reoffending than prison. Instead of kids being harmed in Don Dale, they need to be sent to programs that help them re-engage with school or employment, address underlying trauma and health issues, and set them up to live a healthy, happy life.
Take action now by joining our Demonstration, emailing your MP, and signing our petition.
