NT Corrections Commissioner Matthew Varley confirmed Don Dale being considered amid prison population blowout

A proposal to move women into the notorious Don Dale youth detention centre has been compared to ‘shuffling deckchairs on the Titanic’.

The former maximum security Berrimah Prison was fully decommissioned in 2014, but reopened as the new Don Dale. Picture: (A)manda Parkinson

Don Dale could be transformed into a women’s prison as the Territory scrambles to address surging prisoner numbers.

Corrections Commissioner Matthew Varley has confirmed the current Darwin youth justice centre was being consider for takeover, despite the facility being described by one of his predecessors as “only fit for a bulldozer”.

Mr Varley said the centre was being considered as a women’s only prison given the growing prison population.

The Berrimah prison was identified as a secure facility which is expected to be vacant once the new Don Dale centre opens in Holtze.

Commissioner Matthew Varley has confirmed the current Darwin youth justice centre was being consider for a Corrections takeover. Picture: Pema Tamang Pakhrin

The former maximum security Berrimah Prison was decommissioned in 2014, with the former corrections commissioner Ken Middleton championing for its closure amid an overcrowding crisis.

The now 43-year-old facility was originally built for 100 adult prisoners, but reached a population of 800 before the construction of the Holtze centre.

In its final years there were repeated breakouts, riots and deaths, with prisoners complaining of rotten food and hot, overcrowded, rat-infested cells.

Since 2015, this was where the Territory locked up children.

Mr Varley said following renovations to turn the Berrimah site into a youth justice facility, the site was again being considered as a usable prison.

“NTCS is undertaking assessments into what options are appropriate for consideration,” a Corrections spokesman said.

The Correction Department has confirmed it is “considering a number of options” to manage prison numbers, with a report expected to be presented by the end of the year.

“The Commissioner for NT Correctional Services is reviewing options for the short, medium and long term as part of an infrastructure master plan for future NTCS needs.”

“(This) includes expansion options for existing facilities and other sites, which may present viable options.”

Outer fence of the Wickham Point Immigration Detention Centre which was previously used to house asylum seekers.

It is understood the closed Wickham Point Immigration Detention Centre was also previously considered, but the isolated federally-owned site would have more complications in converting it into a prison.

Justice Reform Initiative executive director Mindy Sotiri said converting Don Dale into a women’s prison would be a “misguided” waste of taxpayers money with Corrections “shuffling deckchairs on the Titanic”.

“Don Dale is not fit for children, it is not fit for women, it is not fit for humans of any kind,” Dr Sotiri said.

“There are simply too many people being pushed into the Territory’s prisons – men, women and children.”

Dr Sotiri said new, or “recycled” prisons were not way to address the drivers of overcrowding rates.

“There is overwhelming evidence to show that prison not only fails to reduce crime and address the complex drivers behind it, but increases the likelihood of reoffending, ultimately failing to make the community safer,” she said.

“We cannot imprison our way to a safer society, and spending more money to patch up prisons is a shortsighted approach.”

As of Tuesday morning there were 2113 prisoners across the Territory — meaning more than one per cent of the entire NT population was behind bars.

Mr Varley said Corrections had reached an “highest” for remand rates, with around 45 per cent of prisoners unsentenced.

On Tuesday Attorney-General Chansey Paech confirmed that prisoners who entered guilty pleas waited an average of 108 days on remand.

On average, people who plead not guilty spent an extra 23 days on remand.

Mr Paech also confirmed the government had already spent $3.6m in engineering, consultancy reports, labour and materials to increase the capacity at Holtze prison.

Yet despite these efforts, Mr Paech said there were still 68 prisoners sleeping on mattresses as of June 19.

Corrections also continues to use the Darwin Police watch house to hold up to 40 sentenced prisoners, despite the agreement to borrow the short-term holding cells meant to end by July.