NT Election 2024: ALP, CLP outline Territory youth justice plans
Lowering the age of criminal responsibility, eliminating spit hoods, and the targeting of negligent parents. These are the pledges the major parties have made ahead of this year’s election.
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The Royal Commission, age of criminal responsibility, and “generational change” are among the hot topics ahead of this year’s NT election, and they all pertain to same issue – youth justice.
With overcrowded prisons and a $47 million annual spend on the incarceration of children, the ALP and CLP give reveal their plans to keep kids away from the courts.
80 per cent of kids who are put in Territory detention centres will end up behind bars again within 12 months – the highest reoffending rate in the country. How will your government reduce this rate and divert kids from prison?
ALP:
The evidence is clear, the earlier a young person enters the justice system, the more prolonged their involvement will be.
It is critical that we work with all sectors of the community to address the root causes of offending.
The Territory faces complex challenges and some of our young people need early support and intervention.
This is why we established the Co-responder model, having our frontline police work closely with Territory Families staff.
The support doesn’t stop once a child is picked up – it is continued the following day, where the specialist sector reaches out to families, providing assistance.
We are also focused on completing harm and safety assessments as soon as possible, providing education engagement support, as well as providing access to assessments for and management of conditions such as FASD, and intensive family and parenting support.
There will be times that a young person’s actions warrant a period of detention, and we have ensured new and appropriate facilities in Alice Springs and the construction of a new facility in Darwin.
We are doing the hard work outside of the detention setting, which will have a significant impact on offending and recidivism statistics.
CLP:
Labor’s failures in youth justice, spanning seven and a half years, have led to diluted bail laws, reduced police power, and a raised age of criminal responsibility.
Despite this, they now propose a hollow review of the Youth Justice Act, disregarding the safety of Territorians.
Our initiatives, ‘Sentenced to a Skill’ and ‘Sentenced to a Job’, equip youth offenders with vital skills for rehabilitation and job prospects, steering them away from criminality.
Our strategy involves lowering the age of criminal responsibility, criminalising bail breaches, and promoting community work programs to underscore the repercussions of criminal behaviour.
Moreover, negligent parents will face accountability, ensuring school attendance, a secure home environment, and income management referrals.
Labor’s lack of accountability and ineffective policies have endangered communities, while our proactive measures prioritise safety and rehabilitation.
It’s time to address the root causes of youth crime and empower young individuals to lead productive lives within society.
Will your government ensure that all recommendations from the Royal Commission into the Protection and Detention of Children in the Northern Territory are implemented. If so, please highlight the main recommendations you will implement in your term? If not, please explain why.
ALP:
When the CLP is in charge of youth justice it costs the Territory taxpayer.
There was a costly Royal Commission, and a $35 million settlement for former Don Dale detainees – all thanks to the CLP.
The CLP doesn’t know how to deliver restorative justice.
The past month we have been inundated by the CLP questioning the Royal Commission into the Protection and Detention of Children.
The Royal Commission was an expert body of work in response to the deplorable manner in which young people in detention were treated during the term of the previous CLP Government, and we continue to implement its recommendations.
This includes a review of the Youth Justice Act 2005, and the provision of four new youth justice residential facilities and therapeutic models of care for youth justice facilities, new child and family centres throughout the Northern Territory, ending the use of restraint chairs and spit hoods in favour of more appropriate practical alternatives and the provision of more comprehensive health and mental health care for young people at risk.
Territory Labor will continue to implement its restorative justice program to prevent further harm and crime.
CLP:
Crime is much worse now than it was prior to the Royal Commission.
Labor has continued to put public safety last under its slogans like “generational change” whilst gutting the front line, chaotically blending departments and allowing lawlessness on our streets.
The CLP will uphold safety by reducing the age of criminal responsibility back from 12 to 10, ensuring young offenders and parents are accountable.
That means early intervention, that means transformative programs and often that will mean custody.
Currently, Labor absolves offenders under the age of 12 from all legal responsibility.
They have even erased their previous criminal records so the Court cannot judge their past, ensuring the revolving door keeps swinging and hitting victims hardest of all.
A CLP government will empower law enforcement with enhanced authority to tackle youth crime and disorder.
Mandatory community service for young offenders, aimed at fostering accountability and community restitution, is a critical element of our Plan.
The CLP understands that crime affects the economy, endangers community safety and business operations.
By putting Territorians safety first, only the CLP will build a stronger Territory.
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Originally published as NT Election 2024: ALP, CLP outline Territory youth justice plans
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