A protest will be held outside the Palmerston watch house on Friday as anger at the Northern Territory Government's hardline crime policies continues to grow.

The protest action comes following reports of detainees being held on remand for up to three weeks in cramped, unsanitary conditions.

Since the Country Liberal Party (CLP) was elected last August, it has introduced sweeping justice reforms which critics say are inflaming tensions with Indigenous communities, who make up nearly 90 per cent of the Territory's prison population. The policies have also drawn strong condemnation from human rights and legal advocates.

Inside the Palmerston facility, detainees are being held in overcrowded cells — with reports of up to 17 people in a single cell — without access to showers, clean clothes, or private toilet facilities for days at a time. Being held on remand, none have yet been found guilty of any offence.

Advocates have described the conditions as "third world," with one case involving an 11-year-old child who was kept in a cell under constant lighting for 24 hours a day.

The advocacy group Justice not Jails (JNJ) said the CLP's changes to the Youth Justice Act — including the removal of imprisonment as a last resort, lowering the age of criminal responsibility to 10, and the reintroduction of spit hoods — go against key findings of the 1991 Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody and the 2017 Don Dale Royal Commission.

They warn the changes will see more children "tortured on remand" in places like the Palmerston watch house.

"I find it so disgusting and heartbreaking the amount of harm and torture that has been put upon our children — especially children in watch houses," said Natalie Hunter, a Nyikina woman and co-founder of NAAJA, Australia's largest Indigenous legal aid service.

Ms Hunter said many of the children being held have "all sorts of trauma and disabilities," a concern echoed in a 2024 report from the NT Children's Commissioner, which found 77 per cent of detainees aged 10 to 13 had mental health or cognitive disabilities. Nearly half had multiple diagnoses.

Since the introduction of new legislation in April, NAAJA reports youth detention numbers have more than doubled. As of earlier this week, 60 young people were in detention in the NT — 95 per cent of them Indigenous.

"This is the highest number of youth in detention recorded in the last eight years," a NAAJA spokesperson said, calling it "another unwanted milestone" for the Territory.

In one case, a 13-year-old with diagnosed disabilities was detained for 24 hours after allegedly shoplifting candy, NAAJA said. While in custody, the child was denied access to medication that had been brought in by their foster carer and despite repeated requests, was not allowed to speak to them.

When the child came before the court, the magistrate granted bail immediately and released him on his own undertaking with no conditions, the spokesperson said.

Justin Tutty, who was recently detained at the facility following a protest, said he was placed in a cell with the only other non-Indigenous person he saw.

"I was put in a cell with the only other white guy," he said.

"I counted 15 heads in each of the 3 other cells I saw. People were standing up so others could lie down. I've never been in and out so fast. Definitely filled beyond capacity."

JNJ also alleges women have given birth while on remand at Palmerston, and others have been refused sanitary products while menstruating. The group said some women were misidentified as perpetrators of domestic violence and detained.

"I am calling on the Commonwealth Government to step in and sanction the NT Government as a matter of urgency," Ms Hunter said.

"I would like to see monies redirected to Aboriginal Community-Controlled Organisations."

Last week, Minister for Indigenous Australians Malarndirri McCarthy suggested the federal government may use its financial leverage — which accounts for nearly 80 per cent of the NT's funding — to pressure the Territory to reconsider its youth justice policies.

Speaking to Sky News, Senator McCarthy said the federal government would not stand by as incarceration rates soared.

"The balance of incarceration is far outweighing efforts to keep the community safe," she said.

"In Alice Springs, nearly half the prison population is on remand, many of them children who haven't even had a chance to face court. That is a human rights issue we cannot ignore."

Earlier this week, NT Opposition Leader Selena Uibo said comments made by the police association and NAAJA showed Palmerston Watch House is unsafe for officers and inmates.

A request for Labor MPs to visit the facility has yet to be granted, she says.

"I understand police have changed their shifts and changed the way they look after the Palmerston Watch House so they can deal and cope with that extra pressure," Ms Uibo recently told reporters.