Alarming youth incarceration rates in the Territory

An ABC Freedom of Information request has revealed nearly 400 Indigenous children and teenagers were detained in the Northern Territory over a six-month period from August last year to March this year.

The FOI requested data began on August 25, 2024 – a day after the election that swept a Liberal government to power in the Territory.

The data obtained by the ABC shows there were 870 youth “custody events” in NT police watch houses, 402 were individual youths.

The data does not show how long these minors were kept in custody.

NT Police told the ABC the accuracy of the data was “erroneous”.

“The Northern Territory Police Force can confirm that the data provided does not accurately reflect the actual time youths have spent in custody,” a police spokesperson said.

“While the report you received reflects what was recorded in the system at the time, it does not account for process variations that can affect how custody end times are calculated.”

IT software has been blamed for the lack of confirmed data, with a new system, installed 2023, continually causing issues.

But the NT Aboriginal Legal aide service has recently confirmed that a girl aged 11 had been kept in a police watch house in Palmerston for two days and a 15-year-old girl in there same facility for three nights.

Northern Territory member for Mulka, Yingiya Guyula, told the ABC children were being traumatised by the process and called it “cruel”.