First Peoples Disability Network has condemned the Northern Territory government's youth justice overhaul, reviving spit hoods and abolishing the principle that detention be a last resort, warning the changes will "lock up and traumatise Aboriginal children with disability".

The Network, the national peak organisation led by and for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people with disability, said the NT government is "knowingly choosing to use instruments of torture" on children with disabilities, directly defying the recommendations of the 2017 Royal Commission and violating international human rights law.

FPDN said government's use of officer safety as a justification for the return of spit hoods is "a fallacy", noting that a comprehensive 2023 review by the Australian Federal Police led it to ban spit hoods, concluding the "risk of using spit hoods outweighed the benefits of their use, given they are ineffective in protecting against transmissible diseases".

The United Nations Committee Against Torture has repeatedly called on Australia to end the use of spit hoods in all circumstances.

"Reintroducing the very instrument that symbolised the horrors of Don Dale is deeply disturbing and a profound insult to every survivor and every family who bravely gave evidence to the Royal Commission," FPDN chief executive Damian Griffis said.

"This is the continuation of the criminalisation of disability, compounded by racism. Instead of providing our children with the culturally safe health care, NDIS supports, and housing they desperately need, the government is responding with brute force.

"These children are being punished for the state's own neglect. This policy will not make anyone safer. It will only create more trauma, more violence, and more despair, at a cost of over $1.3 million a year to lock up a single child."

The figure comes from research by the Justice Reform Initiative published earlier this year.

FPDN noted that the Bail and Youth Justice Legislation Amendment Bill 2025 deletes the last resort safeguard, expands use of force powers, and green lights spit hoods for children, devices the 2017 Royal Commission labelled "inhumane" and recommended banning outright.

"The Territory has already lowered the age of criminal responsibility back to 10 and strengthened presumption against bail rules, moves critics say will funnel ever younger children into custody," the Network warned in a statement this week.

FPDN said evidence shows the impact of the changes will "almost exclusively" hit Aboriginal children and those living with disability, noting that 94 per cent of children in NT detention are Aboriginal, the highest rate in the nation, and that a 2024 study of 10 to 13 year olds in NT detention found nearly half had multiple disabilities, including Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder and cognitive impairment.

The Network said that by stripping away detention last resort protections and restoring spit hoods, the NT government is acting in opposition to the Closing the Gap Target 11, which requires a 30 per cent reduction in First Nations youth detention by 2031; and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture, both of which urge a focus on non-custodial measures and prohibit cruel treatment.

"The NT is gutting essential child safety safeguards just as we finally started addressing disability in the justice system. Re authorising spit hoods and turning detention into a first response will result in deeper cycles of trauma and incarceration," Mr Griffis said.

"Our children need healing and disability support, not more cuffs, hoods and concrete walls. This law takes us backwards to the Don Dale days the Royal Commission exposed."

First Peoples Disability Network called on the NT Government to withdraw the Bill's punitive clauses; legislate a permanent ban on spit hoods; and reinstate detention last resort in the Youth Justice Act.

The Network also urged the Commonwealth and all States and Territories to adopt national minimum standards prohibiting spit hoods and mandating disability informed, trauma responsive youth justice models.

Several justice organisations have warned the changes will traumatise children while doing nothing to make the community safer.

On Tuesday, Yolŋu independent MP Yiŋiya Guyula moved a motion in the Territory parliament censuring the government for its failure to "consult and work with Aboriginal leaders, communities and organisations to create solutions to current problems of crime and disadvantage", and their "implementation of laws and policies that significantly increase the incarceration of Aboriginal people in inadequate and dangerous conditions without any focus on addressing underlying issues, rehabilitation, or pathways for community healing".

On Wednesday, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner Katie Kiss and Australia's National Children's Commissioner Anne Hollonds urged the NT government to reconsider its plans.