A plan to reinstate controversial spit-hoods in youth detention centres has been defended in the crime-troubled territory.
The proposal is part of a suite of measures overhauling youth justice to be debated in the Northern Territory parliament within days.
The chief minister of the Northern Territory, Lia Finocchiaro.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen
The Country Liberal Party government has vowed to table the legislation “on urgency” after a 15-year-old was stabbed and seriously injured in front of shocked onlookers at the Royal Darwin Show on Saturday.
A 15-year-old has been charged, with police alleging the teen knew the victim.
The NT Police Force confirmed in October that spit-hoods had been made available to use on youths in police watch houses and cells, with strict protocols in place.
Shackles and a spit hood: Dylan Voller at the Don Dale Youth Detention Centre. Credit: ABC
The proposed youth justice law changes would extend the use of the hoods to youth detention centres, reversing a ban imposed eight years ago.
Aboriginal Affairs Minister Steve Edgington defended anti-spit guards in youth centres, saying they were already being used in adult settings.
“When young people come into custody that are spitting, biting their tongue and spitting blood at correctional officers, we want to ensure that our frontline staff are protected,” he told reporters on Tuesday.
“We’re hoping that we will never need to use these.”
In 2016, an ABC Four Corners report into the NT’s Don Dale Youth Detention Centre prompted outrage over the use of spit-hoods and led to then prime minister Malcolm Turnbull announcing a royal commission into juvenile justice in the territory.
The NT government subsequently stopped the use of spit-hoods and restraint chairs in youth detention centres in 2017, following the federal government’s formal endorsement of a United Nations protocol against torture and inhumane punishments.
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In 2022, the use of spit-hoods for youths in police custody was also banned by the then-NT Labor government.
NT Children’s Commissioner Shahleena Musk said the territory was the only Australian jurisdiction reverting to using spit-hoods on children.
AAP