New Alice Springs youth justice centre ruled out ‘in short term’

The Territory Government has ruled out building a new detention centre to replace its ageing Alice Springs facility ‘in the short term’

Territory Families Minister Dale Wakefield says the government will not proceed with a new youth justice centre in Alice Springs “in the short to medium term”. Picture: Justin Kennedy

THE Territory Government has scrapped plans to build a new detention centre to replace its ageing Alice Springs facility and will instead spend $10 million refitting the old one.

Territory Families Minister Dale Wakefield announced the decision not to proceed with the new centre “in the short term” on Thursday, saying none of the potential sites were deemed suitable.

Ms Wakefield said the preferred site options “raised issues which include proximity to residential areas and did not meet community expectations and needs”.

“Following community and stakeholder consultations, we have made the decision not to proceed in the short term with a new Alice Springs youth justice centre,” she said.

“The refurbishment at the Alice Springs youth detention centre will ensure that the infrastructure supports rehabilitation programs and that time spent in detention can be used to get young people back on track.”

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But Ms Wakefield said a new detention centre was still on the cards for the Red Centre “in the medium term”.

“We know that in the medium term we will need to look at a new facility in the Alice Springs region but at this stage we want to expand what we’re doing here,” she said.

The $10 million will come from a $70 million budget allocated to replace both the Alice Springs and Darwin detention centres, leaving $60 million to build a new Don Dale.

The government shelved plans to build the new Darwin facility at Pinelands in March following a public backlash and Ms Wakefield said it was still yet to find a suitable replacement.

“We said after listening to the community and the community concerns about the Pinelands site that we would go back to the drawing board,” she said.

“We are doing that and we will be in position to announce further things soon.”