Former Don Dale youth inmates to share in record $35 million settlement
Up to 1200 former detainees who were mistreated inside the infamous Don Dale Youth Detention Centre will be paid out a share of $35m, after the NT government reached a record-breaking settlement with Maurice Blackburn Lawyers.
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UP to 1200 former detainees who were mistreated inside the infamous Don Dale Youth Detention Centre will be paid out a share of $35m, after the NT government reached a record-breaking settlement with Maurice Blackburn Lawyers.
It’s believed to be the biggest class action settlement the NT government has faced.
The sum of the historic settlement, inclusive of costs, can be revealed after the NT government this week lost its Federal Court bid to suppress the figure.
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Territory Families Minister Kate Worden said the settlement, which covered anyone mistreated while in an NT youth detention centre between 2006 and 2017, would put an end to the longstanding case.
“The whole purpose of settling this matter – or moving to settlement in November – is to put this to bed,” she said.
“This is an historical matter going back as far as 2006. We have a very, very reformed system since that time.”
The Royal Commission into the Protection and Detention of Children in the Northern Territory was launched in 2016, which revealed systemic failures, including mistreatment, verbal abuse, humiliation and isolation of young people.
As part of the settlement, the NT government does not admit officers acted illegally but it has previously apologised for the way young people were treated in detention.
The amount paid to each person will vary depending on how long they were in detention, what happened to them and how many people register for compensation.
“No amount of money will undo the ongoing harm caused by these abuses, but it is an important acknowledgment of the pain caused to hundreds of young people,” Maurice Blackburn lawyer Ben Slade said.
“While in detention, these young people were subjected to appalling treatment that included excessive force, handcuffing, strip searching and isolation in cells.
“These young people may have broken the law but they did not deserve to be broken by the law.”
Aaron Hyde, one of two applicants who launched the class action, said he hoped the settlement would lead to a better youth justice system.
“Only the people who have walked in my shoes know what we’ve been through. Our shoes bear those scars and marks,” he said.
“The brothers and sisters who are no longer with us are not forgotten and we send them our love.
“I hope this settlement leads to change to create a better system for the younger mob.”
The NT News understands Maurice Blackburn’s legal fee of between $8m and $10m will come out of the settlement.
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