Here are the stories Territory Families doesn’t want you to read

THE Territory Government wants to shut youth court to the public. But the only ones who will benefit are the people who have failed these kids for years

The NT Government wants to shut the youth court to the public which means you won’t be able to read about what happens there. But the only ones who will benefit are the people who have failed these kids for years, writes Hayley Sorensen

IN January, a woman was killed and four others injured in a single car crash on the Stuart Hwy near Noonamah.

The car was driven by a 17-year-old boy who was at the time serving a suspended sentence for a serious sex offence.

In the months before the crash, the boy had breached the conditions of that suspended sentence four times, but Territory Families had done nothing about it.

In court last month, Crown Prosecutor Stephen Geary slammed the department for its “shocking supervision” of the offender.

If its bureaucrats had taken action sooner, the woman killed in the crash might still be alive, he said.

Six months earlier, it was revealed the Don Dale detention centre was so severely understaffed there was no one available to drive a teenager who wanted to plead guilty to stabbing a man in the neck with a pair of scissors during a home invasion to court.

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In 2017, a judge accused a 13-year-old boy of taking advantage of his mother’s alleged murder to commit crimes.

The same year, Justice Stephen Southwood slammed Territory Families for being “simply incapable” of caring for a 16-year-old armed robber who admitted to repeatedly breaching the conditions of her curfew.

Each of these stories exposes serious failings in the Territory’s youth justice system.

We know about them because journalists from the Territory’s media outlets were there to report them.

Their reporting cast light on the dark corners of our youth justice system and in some instances led to tangible change.

The judge who told the child he was taking advantage of his mum’s brutal death was eventually taken off youth court.

But under changes before NT Parliament now, it’s unlikely these stories would ever have seen the light of day.

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The amendments, which arise from a recommendation of the royal commission into youth justice, will shut all court proceedings involving a child to the public, including the media. The rationale for doing so is that identification of young offenders could lead to “stigmatisation”.

Being “named and shamed” as a criminal could have lasting negative impacts on a young person, according to the explanatory statement tabled in parliament when the legislation was introduced.

That’s a furphy. In none of the cases outlined above was the child identified.

It is extremely rare for the media to name a child who is before court, in part because judges already have the discretion to close proceedings or impose suppression orders on any information they don’t want to be made public.

It’s important to balance the right of the public to know what goes on in youth court with the need to protect children. Other jurisdictions recognise this.

In Victoria and NSW, youth court is open, with prohibitions on the publication of information which would identify a child. Similar rules would work here.

When asked why the Government was gagging the courts and removing an important layer of public scrutiny on her department, Territory Families Minister Wakefield said judges would have the discretion to allow media into court rooms on application.

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It’s unlikely judges would have approved applications for the stories outlined here.

Ms Wakefield’s spin to downplay a measure which will have the effect of reducing public scrutiny on what she calls our “broken” youth justice system is concerning.

Marty Aust, president of the Criminal Lawyers Association of the NT, is sceptical of the Government’s motivation for gagging youth matters.

Mr Aust, whose job it is to represent these kids, said he was concerned it was a “stunt” to hide the system’s many failures.

The Gunner Government is failing in its task of reforming the youth justice system.

Sixteen months after the royal commission’s final report was released, the Government is no closer to picking a site for a new youth detention centre.

It will be years until one is operational.

Shamefully, earlier this month the Government used urgency provisions to ram through legislation which will wind back newly imposed limitations on the use of force on children by detention centre staff.

Maintaining public scrutiny on our youth justice system is more important that ever before.

At risk kids who have committed crimes won’t be better off without journalists telling their stories.

The only people to benefit from these gag laws are those who have failed these children for years.