NT govt’s new youth crime laws would have led to 5 extra kids locked up in recent weeks if they had been in place: Manison

FIVE extra children would have been locked up on remand in the last month if the NT government’s latest proposed laws targeting youth crime were in place, the Police Minister confirmed

FIVE extra children would have been locked up on remand in the last month if the NT government’s latest proposed laws targeting youth crime were in place, Police Minister Nicole Manison confirmed.

Chief Minister Michael Gunner, Ms Manison, and Police Commissioner Jamie Chalker on Tuesday morning unveiled the NT government’s package of legislative reform targeting youth offenders, particularly the core group of recidivists.

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Police Minister Picture Katrina Bridgeford.

Police Commissioner Jamie Chalker. Photograph: Che Chorley

The government’s latest plan will involve walking away from some recommendations of the royal commission into youth detention, a move that has been slammed by human rights bodies.

Under the government’s plan, young people who commit a serious breach of bail, including by reoffending or failing to attend court, will have their bail revoked and thrown into remand.

The Bail Act, which was initially amended following recommendations of the royal commission, will be changed again to expand the list of crimes that make it hard for kids to be granted bail.

Those offences will include stealing cars, break-ins, and assaulting a worker or police officer.

Children who fail to complete youth diversion will be hauled back to court and have their case reconsidered.

Courts will also only be able to consider diversion for youths if it’s a pathway they have not used before.

Mr Gunner said he was “genuinely surprised” that a “loophole” existed where young people were getting away with not completing youth diversion.

“These are things that have slipped through past governments both ours, and the previous CLP, that someone could commit to diversion but not complete diversion and that was considered okay,” he said,

“That’s not okay.”

Police will also be given more powers so they can “immediately” put an electronic monitoring bracelet on a child who is alleged to have committed a crime and consider if a tracker is “appropriate for use” during diversion.

It was revealed during budget estimates that only one tracker had been used on a child in 2019/20

The government will set aside $5m to build new youth remand sites, noting the “practical consequences” of the new policies.

Mr Gunner confirmed Territory Families would look into using the money for facilities in Alice Springs and Darwin.

The NT News can confirm there were 23 children in Don Dale Youth Detention Centre and 10 in the facility in Alice Springs on Monday, which is about 51 per cent of total capacity.

Mr Chalker on Tuesday also revealed there were 741 children that committed crime in the Northern Territory in 2020, clocking up 6399 charges between them.

Half of those crimes were committed by just 16 per cent, or 118, of those children.

“Across the board my police are telling me that they do have concerns that the youth don’t feel that there’s consequences for their actions,” he said.

But Ms Manison, when asked if she knew what the impact of the government’s plan could have had on recent crime statistics, confirmed about five extra children would have been locked up if the laws were in place.

Don Dale Youth Detention centre, Darwin. Picture GLENN CAMPBELL

The government will also write into law that judges will be given information as to how many times a youth had breached bail, in a call back to the NT’s “old breach of bail policy” with “significantly” less paperwork for cops according to the government.

The government has also proposed “toughening” traffic laws so that kids behind the wheel of a car can be breath tested, just like adults.

Alongside this, the Youth Justice Act will also be amended so that police can carry out the test swiftly, following “reasonable attempts” to have a “responsible adult present”.

Mr Chalker and Ms Manison again pressed the “huge impact” that extra stimulus payments and early access to superannuation available during COVID-19 had on levels of alcohol abuse, gambling and drug use in communities.

But the drop off in the stimulus payments has police worried according to Mr Chalker

“We do have a level of concern that some property crime may start to increase and we’ve seen some of that in certain location,” he said.

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Opposition Leader Lia Finocchiaro will address the media on the NT government’s plan this afternoon.

Save the Children NT director Noelene Swanson said the proposal “reeks of populist politics” instead of “evidence-based solutions to the problem”.

She said it was “unbelievable” that the government was already walking away from recommendations of the royal commission.

“If the answer to the question is locking up more kids, breath-testing kids, then we’re clearly asking the wrong question,” she said.

“It is not the way to prevent crime.

“The new measures outlined today are completely inconsistent with the spirit and intent of the Royal Commission’s recommendations.”