The North Australian Aboriginal Justice Agency (NAAJA) is deeply saddened by the news this week of the death in custody of a 24 year old Aboriginal man in Alice Springs. The directors and staff of NAAJA have expressed their condolences to the young man’s family and community at this difficult time.
As more information is released by the family of the young man, it is apparent that this is yet another tragic case of the consequences of a broken system focussed on imprisonment and punishment rather than addressing the root causes of poverty, disadvantage and crime.
A young Territorian has lost his life allegedly for shoplifting.
This loss of life will have a profound and lasting impact on the young man’s family, his home community and the community of Alice Springs, but also on the police officers and security guards involved. NAAJA is again calling for a renewed focus on investment into diversion, rehabilitation and community justice programs that will reduce the interactions between Aboriginal people and the police and courts.
According to the Productivity Commission, from 2020 to 2024, even before the current tough on crime approach, the rate of imprisonment of adult Aboriginal people in the Northern Territory increased from 2,372 per 100,000 to 3,334 per 100,000, a 40 per cent increase. This while the Northern Territory Government has committed to reducing the Aboriginal incarceration rate by 15 per cent by 2031.
‘We support the difficult work that police officers have to do each day to keep our community safe, but we need to stop locking up Aboriginal people in record numbers—on average, 35 people every day of the week’, said Theresa Roe, NAAJA chair. ‘It isn’t the answer. Crime is not decreasing. Instead of building new prisons, let’s find out why a young person had to resort to shoplifting and what could have been done to prevent this tragic event.’
The chair of NAAJA has today written to the chief minister calling for a high level forum to bring together the key stakeholders—the chief minister, police, courts, corrections, legal services and Aboriginal leaders—to work on solutions that will keep the community safe but move away from incarceration and prisons as the only way.
‘We are letting our people down. We need to do better because Territorians are better than this’, said Theresa Roe. ‘I look forward to sitting down with the chief minister and others to find a new way forward that will see the Northern Territory as a place of hope and advantage, and not despair and disadvantage.’
Media contact
Comments in this media release other than direct quotes can be attributed to a NAAJA spokesperson.
Anthony Beven,
0419 218 518 / anthony.beven@naaja.org.au
NAAJA MR2025-09
29 May 2025