The North Australian Aboriginal Justice Agency (NAAJA) welcomes the release of the Office of the Children’s Commissioner’s (OCC) investigation report tabled in the Northern Territory (NT) Parliament today.
The report follows a complaint made by NAAJA regarding the treatment of our client, a young person in Don Dale Youth Detention Centre in April 2024.
NAAJA supports the OCC’s findings that the Department of Territory Families, Housing and Communities engaged in practices that did not comply with NT legislation or policies. This included the young person being separated from other detainees without lawful justification and spending 84 continuous hours in a cell, exceeding the maximum period a person can be separated under the Youth Justice Act 2005 (NT) (the Act) by 12 hours.
During this separation, the young person was denied access to food and possibly medication, and denied access to other mandated entitlements and safeguards to protect young people.
This included the young person not being provided a medical examination, access to a family member, medical practitioner, psychologist, case worker, lawyer, or any other person to offer support and guidance during their separation. There was also no evidence that the young person received education or outdoor recreation time during this 82-hour lockdown, as required under the Act.
This treatment has had serious and ongoing impacts on the young person’s wellbeing.
The young person said: “Whatever the youth detention centres put on their website about what kids get access to, the time they are let out of their rooms, it’s not true. There’s usually heaps of lockdowns, kids don’t get out a lot of the time. They don’t feel safe, especially the younger ones.”
They also said: “It really messed with my head. I started stressing more. I was growing up and becoming more mature [on the outside], when I was inside, I started getting angry, it affected me and I couldn’t think straight because of what happened. It made my anxiety worse. It changed me.”
The Royal Commission into the Protection and Detention of Children in the NT identified these same problems in 2017. Eight years later, little has changed. This report demonstrates entrenched systemic issues that continue to be driven by staff shortages, repeated lockdowns and detention centres at or near capacity. Aboriginal young people, who make up around 90% of those in detention, continue to bear the brunt of these failures.
NAAJA is deeply concerned that the NT government has not fully implemented the OCC’s recommendations, despite the seriousness of this case. Instead, the government has introduced the Youth Justice Legislation Amendment Act 2025 (NT), commencing on 4 September, which expands the powers of youth detention staff. Without fixing existing failures and with rising youth detention numbers, we will continue to see cases like this.
When agencies or individuals are given power over young and vulnerable people, they must demonstrate that they are accountable and have systems in place to ensure they use their powers in accordance with the laws and rules they operate under.
Rehabilitation and healing is only possible when young people in detention are treated with respect, care, and dignity. NAAJA thank the OCC for their investigation and call on the NT Government to fully implement the recommendations of the report.
Media contact
Comments in this media release other than direct quotes can be attributed to a NAAJA spokesperson.
Ben Grimes
ben.grimes@naaja.org.au
NAAJA MR2025-09
4 September 2025