Northern Territory Corrections has confirmed there is no legal requirement to notify parents or guardians when their children are transferred, as the NT Government this week acknowledged children from Mparntwe/Alice Springs are being moved 1,500 kilometres to Darwin.
The issue came to a head on the final day of NT parliamentary sittings this year after media reports alleged young people in Central Australia were disappearing off the streets and being transferred north without their families' knowledge.
In parliament on Thursday, Independent MLA Justine Davis — who the Country-Liberal Party (CLP) Government have begun lumping into their criticisms, citing an 'alliance' with Labor and the Greens — raised those concerns directly with Corrections Minister Gerard Maley, asking if the policy around transferring children in youth detention had changed under the current government.
Quoting media reports, Ms Davis stated: "These reports say that your government has changed a critical policy regarding the transfer of young people from Alice Springs to the Darwin Holtz Youth Detention Centre, specifically that parents or responsible adults no longer need to be notified before a child is moved."
As she spoke, Ms David noted "laughter on the other side of the Chamber".
"Can you confirm whether this policy has changed? If so, why was it changed and on what basis does the government believe it is acceptable to relocate a child 1,500 kilometres away without informing their parents or the people responsible for their care?" the member for Johnston asked Mr Maley.
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In reply, the Minister confirmed transfers from Alice Springs to Darwin were occurring but gave no indication that any notification policy had changed.
Instead, he shifted responsibility onto families and communities, insisting that children are "not just vanishing" but are being taken to Holtze for education and "get the medical assessments they need".
"To say that parents do not know about it— how would you not know that your child has been to court and is going through the court process over months?" Mr Maley asked. "If they did not know about it, maybe it is back to personal responsibility. What have they done to look after that child who has been to court on numerous occasions over months?
"It is time for personal responsibility from parents and the community. The government cannot fix everything; we need joint partnership with parents and the community. Unfortunately, that is not happening."
Labor's shadow attorney-general Chansey Paech said he was horrified by reports of children who have "disappeared" into the youth justice system.
Since the closure of the Alice Springs Detention Centre, he said he has "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.
In a statement reported by the ABC, 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. However, they said it was never a legal requirement for guardians to be notified.
"There is no legal requirement for the department to contact parents or family prior to a transfer," the statement read. "However, significant effort is made by Youth Justice staff for a detainee's parent or caregiver to be informed prior to the transfer being undertaken."
A 2024 report from the NT Children's Commissioner found every child under 14 surveyed in youth custody had interacted with Child Protection. Ninety-four per cent had been exposed to domestic and/or family violence, 77 per cent had mental health needs or a cognitive disability, and 47 per cent had multiple diagnosed cognitive disabilities.
Mr Paech — whose electorate of Gwoja is more than 75 per cent Indigenous — described the relocation of children without family knowledge or consent as "inexcusable and indefensible," calling it a "gross injustice" amounting to the "theft of children from their families".
Echoing longstanding concerns from human rights, legal and Indigenous organisations, he said the CLP Government has "consistently failed to uphold community expectations and care when it comes to the basic right of children and families".
"No family should ever be left wondering where their child is or how they're being treated," Mr Paech said.
"The system, if it is to function properly, must be built on transparency, respect, and accountability. This system fails in every one of those areas when it operates without informing families where their children are."
