Youth at risk with new holding and interview powers
The Northern Territory Government’s changes to youth justice laws will mean more young people are involved in the justice system and give police more power to interview young people without appropriate support.
North Australian Aboriginal Justice Agency (NAAJA) says the Youth Justice and Criminal Code Amendment Bill 2026, introduced to Parliament last week, introduces new police interview powers, that allow children to be held in police watch houses for longer, and broadens the use of force and restraint in detention.
The Bill expands the circumstances where a police officer can interview a child and removes the requirement for there to be a responsible adult or lawyer present in particular “urgent” situations.
Police are given broad power to decide what counts as a “serious or urgent” public safety matter and then decide when a young person can be interviewed without a lawyer, legal advice, or a support person present.
“The lack of clarity around what is a ‘serious or urgent public safety matter’ creates a real risk that this power will be used too broadly and expose children to unnecessary and harmful interactions with police and police stations, even when the child has not committed a crime and is not accused of committing a crime,” Mr Grimes said.
“I think any parent would be concerned at the thought of police holding and questioning their child without the parent’s knowledge. This type of interaction with police can be highly traumatising for a child.”
Mr Grimes said that in certain circumstances a child can be interviewed on their own, even when they may not fully understand what is happening.
“Currently children have stronger protections, including access to legal advice and a support person during any interview with police about serious offences,” he said.
“Those safeguards exist because children are more vulnerable than adults when dealing with police. These amendments remove those safeguards.”
Children detained for up to 48 hours
The amendments also allow children to be kept in police stations or watch houses for up to 48 hours in certain circumstances, even where a court has ordered that they be held in a youth detention centre.
“We already know that conditions inside watch houses in the Northern Territory are not up to standard and this places more children in harm’s way,” Mr Grimes said.
NAAJA says this risks exposing young people to harmful conditions where they will see and hear distressing adult behaviour in watchhouses, particularly over weekends and public holidays when court access is limited.
Expanded powers for force and searches
The new laws broaden the circumstances in which the Superintendent of a detention centre or a person authorised by the Superintendent can decide to use force against children in detention.
They also expand search powers, including more intrusive pat-down searches on children. Under these proposed laws, a superintendent of a detention centre can now direct a child to submit to a search that involves feeling their body from the outside of clothing, lifting the waistband of clothing and feeling along both sides of a child’s waist. This type of touching is not currently permitted in a pat-down search.
“I think most parents would be outraged at the thought of someone touching their child in this way,” says Ben Grimes.
On top of that, the NT Government can set up new short-term ‘temporary’ holding facilities for children, but these places will not have the same oversight as youth detention centres. There is also no clear limit on how long “temporary” actually means.
That means children could be kept in these facilities without the same checks, supports, and services they would normally receive in a proper youth justice centre.
Less accountability
The Bill will also extend legal immunity to police exercising power under the Act meaning it will be harder to hold them accountable when they use these powers.
“Police accountability benefits all Territorians. There is no compelling reason to allow police to act to a lower standard than anyone else.”
“These changes continue the problematic pattern we have seen from this NT Government. They are reducing transparency and accountability for government departments at the same time as lowering the acceptable standards for how we treat and interact with vulnerable people.”
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Media contact:
Emily Murphy-O’Neill
Media Strategy & Communications Officer
North Australian Aboriginal Justice Agency
Phone: 0455 556 412
Email: emily.murphyoneill@naaja.org.au
Website: https://www.naaja.org.au/