Twelve months ago, National Indigenous Times described a "horror" year for the Northern Territory — one that began with a curfew in Alice Springs and ended with a "record" number of people imprisoned.
In 2025, that record was surpassed. A further escalation in punitive justice policies saw Aboriginal Territorians continue to bear the brunt of measures introduced by the Country Liberal Party (CLP), leaving the Northern Territory with one of the highest incarceration rates in the world.
Corrections data shows the average prison population has increased by 15 per cent over the past year. With the age of criminal responsibility lowered to 10 and bail laws tightened, more than 1 per cent of Territorians are now imprisoned on any given day. Nearly 90 per cent of detainees are Aboriginal.
Law and order policies
Despite the rising prison population, the CLP has shown little indication it will change course, frequently dismissing critics as "offender apologists" while maintaining its policies are necessary to improve community safety.
Crime data released this month shows a reduction in reported crime across the Territory, supporting the government's position.
"More than 1,800 fewer Territorians had to suffer as victims of crime this year. Yet sadly, we know too many still are," Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro said this month.
"I make no apologies for continuing to focus on reducing crime as we head into 2026."
In September, the CLP announced members of the public would be permitted to carry Oleoresin Capsicum (OC) spray. At the time, then-AMSANT CEO Dr John Paterson warned: "This decision will cause harm, deepen community distrust, and exacerbate already dangerous racial divisions. It offers no positive outcomes and will instead trigger a range of unintended consequences."
Building on their policies in 2024, stricter bail laws were also enacted following a series of violent incidents across the Territory.
No prisoner should be held in such conditions
Conditions inside prisons and youth detention centres drew national attention throughout the year. Reports emerged of 20 women being held in a single cell in Alice Springs and forced to drink from a toilet, as well as an 11-year-old being detained in an adult facility in Palmerston.
At Don Dale Youth Detention Centre, a child was held in a cell for 84 hours.
Earlier this month, the government refused to allow United Nations inspectors access to its prisons, prompting Senator Lidia Thorpe to accuse the CLP of blocking scrutiny because it knows it is "guilty of torture and abuse".
A report released last month by Acting Ombudsman Bronwyn Haack called for all inmates held in NT watch houses to be removed "as a matter of urgency", stating that no one should be subjected to the conditions currently present in those facilities.
It also emerged that young people in Central Australia were "disappearing" from the streets, taken into custody and transferred north without their families' knowledge. The Department of Corrections said its policy is not to transfer children between facilities before attempting to consult the "relevant adults" involved in their care, but acknowledged there is no legal requirement to notify guardians.
In August, the family of former NT Supreme Court Justice James Muirhead called for federal intervention, describing the government's approach as "regressive actions".
Aboriginal organisations
Relations between the CLP and Aboriginal organisations deteriorated significantly over the year.
"Unfortunately, the CLP always gets in on law and order. But us Aboriginal people are the most incarcerated people in the Northern Territory," Central Land Council deputy chair Barbara Shaw said.
"It is so disgusting that this government is not listening to our Elders, to take our children back out on to Country and be with families."
Heritage laws linked to a proposed hotel development in Darwin sparked protests from Larrakia groups, water reforms in Central Australia drew criticism from land councils, and the Territory Coordinator bill was widely condemned as "ill-conceived and rushed".
"Between us we own more than half of the Territory's land and 85 per cent of the coastline," Tiwi Land Council chair Leslie Tungatalum said.
"Any government that ignores and harms our fast-growing population may win an election or two, but it has no future."
Yuendemu
Two of the most defining issues of 2025 centred on the Warlpiri community of Yuendemu.
In late May, Kumanjayi White, a 24-year-old Warlpiri man with a disability, died after being restrained by two plain-clothed NT Police officers inside a Coles supermarket in Mparntwe/Alice Springs.
Despite nationwide protests, no officer has been stood down. More than six months later — with the Director of Public Prosecutions holding a brief of evidence for more than two months — no charges have been laid.
Authorities have not explained how Mr White, who was under state guardianship and living in supported accommodation, died in police custody. Calls for an independent investigation were rejected by Ms Finocchiaro, even as one of the officers allegedly involved continued policing duties in Alice Springs.
Mr White's death delayed the delivery of coronial findings into the 2019 police shooting death of Kumanjayi Walker by former officer Zachary Rolfe. When the findings were handed down in Yuendemu, Mr Rolfe — acquitted of murder and manslaughter in 2022 — was described by Coroner Elisabeth Armitage as a racist who "worked in and benefited from an organisation with the hallmarks of institutional racism."
"This was not a case of one bad apple... racist behaviour or language, although not uniform, was normalised within the Alice Springs police station during Mr Rolfe's time there."
Despite longstanding concerns raised by Aboriginal Territorians about racism within NT Police, and the force's own anti-racism strategy acknowledging systemic issues, Ms Finocchiaro rejected that characterisation, stating: "I just don't believe in dragging everyone down...obviously, we've had well-ventilated and documented issues in the past, but these are largely historical."
Taken together, the past year reflects a Territory increasingly defined by tension between reported reductions in crime and the expansion of punitive policies — many of which heavily impact Aboriginal communities.
While the government maintains its policies have delivered improved safety outcomes, independent data, coronial findings and oversight reports continue to raise questions about proportionality, accountability and the long-term consequences for Aboriginal people.
A year on from the horrors of 2024, things have only got worse in the NT.
