Robyn Lambley seeks community support for curfew in response to high-impact, high-visibility crime

The Independent Member for Araluen, Robyn Lambley, has launched a ‘Youth Curfew Petition’ for Alice Springs in response to what she said was widespread demand from across the community.

Community Youth Engagement Team Sergeant Nicholas Mitchell, ALO Charles Michael aka Ringo, ALO Phillip Alice and School Based Constable Tai Gavin. Picture: SUPPLIED

The Independent Member for Araluen, Robyn Lambley, has launched a ‘Youth Curfew Petition’ for Alice Springs in response to what she said was widespread demand from across the community.

“A youth curfew is both a child protection strategy and a crime prevention strategy,” she said.

“Taking children off the streets of Alice Springs at night is an incredibly caring thing to do and will provide greater safety for the kids and for the whole community.

“It would also force parents to take responsibility for their children being on the streets at night, something that is seriously lacking at the moment.”

Speaking to the Centralian Advocate, Mrs Lambley explained the successful implementation of a youth curfew would involve a multi-agency response, with children moved from the CBD to an intermediary or “triage” location – such as Saltbush Social Enterprises – where they would undergo a general assessment of their needs.

This assessment would then determine whether it was in the best interests of the child to return them home to a parent or carer, or whether it was necessary for the child to be moved to a secondary location and provided with emergency accommodation.

“There is absolutely no reason why a youth curfew cannot work in Alice Springs,” Mrs Lambley said.

“This is something we’ve never tried before and I think Alice Springs could lead the way and show how a youth curfew can turn things around.”

As CEO of Alice Springs Youth Accommodation and Support Services, Tania Morgan said she understood why people were calling for a youth curfew, but that they needed to think about the logistics of how it would happen.

“Our crisis refuge accommodation is pretty much full,” Ms Morgan said.

“And more often than not on any given night we have nothing but a single emergency bed left.”

Explaining that for some children in Alice Springs it was safer to be out on the street at night than at home, Ms Morgan said the reasons for this were many and varied.

“There’s overcrowding from visitors coming in from Community or too many people in the house to begin with, food security, drinking that goes on in the house, domestic violence or mum and dad just aren’t there – we’ve had cases where the family has gone out bush and left the kids behind,” she said.

“You’ve also got a broken system that is very hesitant to get Territory Families involved because there is fear about these kids being taken into care.

“So you’ve got a generation on the streets that no one is willing to take responsibility for.”

Acknowledging the majority of kids on the streets at night were Indigenous, Ms Morgan stressed the need for the community to also recognise that it wasn’t because non-Indigenous kids weren’t also getting into trouble.

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“It’s just that those kids do have safe places to go at night,” she said.

Asked whether a youth curfew was something the kids within her care were talking about, Ms Morgan said they were aware of community discussion on social media platforms such as Facebook and that she “honestly thought” the kids would see the implementation of a youth curfew as a “challenge.”

“They would find other ways to be out and not get caught,” she said.

In a statement provided to the Centralian Advocate, an NT Police spokesperson said the Northern Territory Police had no position on youth curfews.

“The Northern Territory Police are advised that youth curfews are not consistent with freedoms recognised in Commonwealth legislation such as the Human Rights (Parliamentary Scrutiny) Act 2011,” the statement read.

“Northern Territory Police note that there is limited evidence in support of their effectiveness as a crime control measure.”