‘We make no apologies’: NT government work to alleviate prison pressures

Nearly 2500 inmates in the NT have pushed prisons to breaking point. Find out what’s being done to fix the problem.

Minister for Corrections Gerard Maley speaks to media at Berrimah, Darwin.

Northern Territory prisons continue to burst at the seams as inmate in custody numbers climb from a record 2468 on December 13 to 2497 on Wednesday, December 18.

In a bid to alleviate pressure, the NT government has reallocated 60 adult prisoners, with 50 more preparing for relocation before Christmas, to the old Don Dale Youth Detention Centre.

Recently repurposed as the Berrimah Correctional Centre, the facility will have a capacity of 200 male prisoners by March 2025, the government’s Corrections Infrastructure Masterplan indicates.

The recently elected government was focused on doing whatever was necessary to protect Territorians and restore community safety, Minister for Corrections Gerard Maley said.

“We make no apologies for keeping criminals off the streets,” he said.

“Our government inherited a crime crisis and a broken corrections system, and we are doing what needs to be done to protect Territorians and ensure that violence, crime, and harm are met with real consequences.

“[The masterplan] is progressing, and where we can fast-track projects, we are doing so.

“But we won’t compromise the safety of our corrections officers, staff or prisoners.”

The masterplan will also see the Alice Springs youth detention facility repurposed into a women’s prison, opening up an additional 130 male prisoner beds at the Alice Springs Correctional Centre.

A new 150-bed women’s prison at Holtze has also been planned, with construction to be completed by September 2028.