Territory Families stats bungle inflates Don Dale assault numbers

An apology has been issued after Territory Families sent out a release which overstated the number of staff being assaulted in Don Dale, in a massive statistics stuff-up.

TERRITORY Families vastly overstated the rate of assaults on workers in the Don Dale Detention Centre, in a statistics bungle which has led to a departmental apology.

In response to questions from the CLP, Territory Families earlier this year said there had been 83 cases of detainees assaulting staff at Don Dale between January 1 and April 9 2021.

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But in NT Estimates on Tuesday, Territory Family deputy chief executive Jeanette Kerr revealed there had been a mistake in the figures.

There had been just 72 detainee assaults on youth detention staff between July 1 2020 and March 31 2021, at both the Don Dale facility in Darwin and in Alice Spring’s youth detention centre.

The Don Dale Youth Detention centre , Darwin. Picture GLENN CAMPBELL

“I need to start off by apologising,” Ms Kerr said.

“What the numbers you were given were for at that point, but (from) July 1 2020, so it’s grossly overinflated.”

“When I saw that I was really alarmed.”

In Estimates it was clarified there had been 12 assaults with injury at Don Dale in the nine months to March 31, and another 29 assaults without injury.

There were 11 assaults with injury and 20 assaults without injury at Alice Springs detention centre in nine months to March 31.

Opposition Territory Families spokesman Josh Burgoyne said he “couldn’t believe” the figures.

“We’ve literally been hammering the Gunner Government over these stats,” Mr Burgoyne said.

“Then to come out today and have to correct their own numbers that they gave us.”

Mr Burgoyne said the department took nearly two months to respond.

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