Amnesty International ‘concerned’ over impact of proposed youth bail reforms

Amnesty International is ‘concerned’ the Territory government is not aware of the impact proposed bail reforms would actually have, as several key stakeholders say they have not been consulted.

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AMNESTY International is “concerned” the Territory government is not aware of the impact proposed bail reforms would actually have, as several key stakeholders say they have not been consulted on the Bill.

The reforms Bill is set to be pushed through parliament early next month.

Representatives from Amnesty International’s Indigenous Rights team met with several stakeholders this week, including Territory Families Minister Kate Worden, saying they believe the changes will disproportionately impact Indigenous kids.

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International Indigenous Rights lead Nolan Hunter said he got the impression from their meeting that the government was “rushing through” the reforms without proper consultation.

“These reforms were drawn up in the back rooms of government departments far away from the communities that they are going to affect, and from the children that they will harm,” he said.

Olga Havnen said Danila Dilba has not been consulted on the Bill.

The NT News has confirmed several peak Indigenous legal and health organisations have not been consulted on or shown a draft of the Bill, including the Northern Australian Justice Agency (NAAJA), Danila Dilba and Larrakia Nation.

Danila Dilba CEO Olga Havnen said she had seen “not a skerrick, not a draft of anything”. “We are a major service provider in Don Dale,” she said. “This thing of bypassing standard regular parliamentary and other scrutiny processes … this is deeply disturbing.”

Ms Havnen said the proposed reforms went against recommendations of both the NT royal commission into Don Dale and the national royal commission into Indigenous deaths in custody.

A spokeswoman for Ms Worden said NAAJA and Danila Dilba “attended a Youth Justice Forum on April 15, hosted by the Department of the Attorney-General and Justice. “At this forum, the non-government providers put forward their views,” she said.

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