Institute of Public Affairs calls for release of hundreds of prisoners in $50m saving for NT taxpayers

An influential conservative think tank has called for the release of hundreds of nonviolent offenders from the Territory’s overcrowded prisons, saying the move would save taxpayers more than $50m and advance justice for victims.

NAAJA’s Jared Sharp said the election presented ‘a landmark opportunity to press the reset button’ on breaking the cycle of offending.

Hundreds of nonviolent offenders should be released from Territory jails – saving taxpayers more than $50m a year – according to a new report from the Institute of Public Affairs.

The Cost of Australia’s Prisons report from the conservative think tank reveals the Territory’s prison population rose by 38 per cent between 2014 and 2024 to 1161 per 100,000 adults — almost 10 times that of Victoria.

The report found 423 of the Territory’s inmates were locked up for nonviolent offences in 2023 at an annual cost of $120,461 per prisoner, arguing they should instead be “subject to alternative punishments”.

“The fundamental aims of the criminal justice system must be ensuring protection of the community and retribution (for) those who have broken the law,” the report reads.

“While prisons play an important role in upholding these aims, Australia’s current overreliance on prison as the main form of punishment is expensive and excessive.

“It is vital that violent and dangerous criminals are isolated from the community to ensure that citizens feel safe on the streets and in their homes.

“However, for those who have committed nonviolent crimes, there are many alternatives to prison such as offender-employment programs, electronic monitoring, home detention, tax penalties, and restitution orders.”

The report by research fellow Mia Schlicht calls for ‘wholesale sentencing reform’. Picture: Jason Walls

The report concludes releasing the convicts would “not only save costs for taxpayers” but “better achieve justice for those who suffer the most from crime — the victims”.

“By implementing wholesale sentencing reform, the criminal justice system could better serve the needs of the community by reinvesting savings into crime prevention strategies to deter offenders from acting in the first place,” it reads.

Criminal Lawyers Association of the NT president Beth Wild backed the report’s findings while taking aim at politicians who “cynically exploit the community’s feelings of vulnerability” ahead of this month’s election.

Ms Wild said Territorians should be “wary of politicians who promise that ‘tougher’ legislation will make us safer”, singling out a Country Liberal Party promise to make conditional bail breaches an offence.

“It is already an offence in the NT to breach a condition of bail and has been so since 2011,” she said.

“The Bail Act provides for the maximum penalty of two years imprisonment for this offence making it more serious than a simple assault.

“People are brought to court every day charged with breach of bail … it is the second most commonly charged offence after assault.”

CLANT president Beth Wild said Territorians should be ‘wary of politicians who promise that tougher legislation will make us safer’. Picture: Zizi Averill

Ms Wild said prisoners needed to be educated so they were less likely to reoffend when they got out but “at the moment, with the prisons stuffed full, that is not happening”.

“Warehousing prisoners until their term is up does nothing to rehabilitate offenders,” she said.

“That should be a concern for all Territorians, because without rehabilitated prisoners, it’s just a matter of time before many people will reoffend.”

North Australian Aboriginal Justice Agency principal legal officer Jared Sharp said the election presented “a landmark opportunity to press the reset button” on breaking the cycle of offending to make our communities safer.

“This cannot be achieved by simply funding more police and more prisons,” he said.

“Without increased investment in tackling disadvantage, poor housing and health issues that impact our communities, Aboriginal people will bear the brunt of law-and-order policies that overlook the root causes of offending.”