The lives of children in detention from Central Australia have been significantly affected by the Northern Territory Government's decision to transfer them more than 1,500 kilometres away from their families, culture and Country, an inquiry has found.
Under the former government's reduced capacity plan for the Alice Springs Youth Detention Centre (ASYDC), most children and young people detained or held on remand are transferred to the Holtze Youth Detention Centre (HYDC) in Darwin.
On Thursday, the Territory's Children's Commissioner, Shahleena Musk, released part two of her inquiry into the ASYDC Reduced Capacity Plan (the Inquiry). She found the decision to move children off Country and away from family and culture "directly contradicts best practice for reducing risks linked to re-offending".
"This decision is at loggerheads with community safety objectives the Government seeks to achieve," she said.
The purpose-built ASYDC has been reduced to a single block used for short-term and transitional detention, as the site is repurposed to operate as a full-time adult prison.
At the time the plan was announced, it was criticised for disproportionately impacting vulnerable Indigenous children, who make up almost all children and young people incarcerated in the Northern Territory.
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Commissioner Musk, a former Crown Prosecutor in both the Northern Territory and Western Australia, said the Department of Corrections' operations, policies and practices failed to meet international or national standards, as well as its own Youth Detention Model of Care.
In its recommendations, the Inquiry calls on the Department of Corrections to improve how young people are transferred and supported in custody by formalising dignity-focused airport protocols, reinstating mandatory family notification before transfers, and ensuring interpreters are used for Aboriginal language speakers during significant decisions.
They also urge the Department to facilitate family visits across all youth justice facilities to maintain cultural and community connections, and to strictly adhere to throughcare policies, including proper risk assessments and improved planning, with evidence of compliance provided within six months.
None of them were accepted in full from the Department.
"It is incredibly disappointing that the Department of Corrections has not accepted any recommendations made by the Inquiry, including simply following their own existing policies and procedures, and committing to ensuring young people have access to interpreters for key decisions," she said.
"This reflects a missed opportunity to ensure young people are not further disadvantaged by the decision to repurpose ASYDC and to ensure all young people receive the support they need to transition safely back to the community. Young people in detention have the right to be involved in decisions about their care and to be included as active participants in assessments, case management and throughcare planning."
Shortcomings across the board
The Inquiry identified serious deficiencies in throughcare, which the Commissioner said pointed to systemic weaknesses across the Northern Territory youth justice system and disproportionately affected young people in Central Australia.
Young people must be supported to address the factors contributing to their offending and provided with an individualised, coordinated throughcare plan to support their return to the community, she said.
It exposed "significant challenges and shortcomings," she added, which affect the "rehabilitation and successful reintegration of young people who were transferred to Darwin".
"These findings are particularly pertinent given that ASYDC is no longer operating as [a] youth detention centre," Commissioner Musk said.
"The concentration of youth detention in the one facility in Darwin undermines rehabilitation, family, community and cultural connection, and reintegration outcomes for Central Australian young people. It is completely unacceptable that in many cases families of young people are not contacted prior to their transfer. This cannot not continue and must be addressed immediately."
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The government has offered few apologies for its "tough on crime" policies, which have seen incarceration rates rise sharply as bail laws were tightened and the age of criminal responsibility reduced from 12 to 10.
Experts have warned that early contact with the justice system can exacerbate trauma and significantly increase the likelihood of further offending.
Commissioner Musk said addressing the underlying causes of offending — through the "coordination of appropriate supports and services that involve family, community and culture" — would lead to better outcomes for young people.
"This is essential to making our communities safer and improving outcomes for our citizens," she said.
Disappearing children
Last year, media reports alleged children in Central Australia were being transferred north without their families' knowledge. The Department of Corrections has said its policy is not to transfer children between facilities before attempting to consult the "relevant adults" involved in their care. However, it has acknowledged there is no legal requirement to notify guardians.
At the time, Labor's shadow attorney-general Chansey Paech said he was horrified by reports of children who had "disappeared" into the youth justice system.
Since the closure of ASYDC, he said he had "heard firsthand accounts from Aboriginal families of children being ripped from the streets, arrested without warning, and shipped off to Darwin without so much as a word to the families".
"This is not just wrong; it is a direct violation of these families' rights," Mr Paech said.
The 2017 Don Dale Royal Commission recommended that young people be detained in facilities as close as possible to their homes, and that consultation occur before any transfer away from their home community.
Before finalising the plan to centralise youth detention in Darwin, the previous Labor government transferred youth detainees from Alice Springs to the Don Dale facility as part of an earlier reduced capacity period. Between July 2023 and May 2024, 60 children — all Aboriginal and the majority on remand — were transferred more than 1,500 kilometres from Central Australia.
Eleven entered detention with an identified disability, while a further five were diagnosed while in custody.
In the months leading up to the transfers, multiple service providers and stakeholders raised concerns about the "lack of consultations to inform the planning for the reduced capacity period", as well as the readiness of both facilities to accommodate the transfers.
