More Youth Justice Changes Proposed (NT)
In a controversial announcement, the NT government has revealed plans to make several urgent changes to the Territory’s Youth Justice system including reintroducing the use of spit hoods on young people in detention.
The changes are expected to be debated in the NT parliament this week. The proposed reforms follow sweeping changes to youth bail and sentencing laws in the NT that were passed earlier this year.
Background to the changes
The NT government’s proposal to reintroduce spit hoods in youth detention follows a stabbing at the Royal Darwin Show this month.
In the incident, which shocked onlookers including families at the popular event, a 15-year-old boy was allegedly stabbed by another 15-year-old boy, with police saying that the accused knew the victim.
The incident is the latest in a series of violent crimes occurring in public places that has outraged the community and led to calls for tougher approaches to crime.
Reintroduction of spit hoods
The NT government is proposing to reintroduce the use of spit hoods on youths in detention for the first time since they were banned in 2017.
The use of spit hoods and restraint chairs was banned after controversy over the treatment of young people in detention was exposed by the ABC program Four Corners in 2016.
However, spit hoods have continued to be used on adults in custody in the NT.
Supporters of reintroducing the use of spit hoods on young people say that they need to be available for use on teenagers who come into custody and bite their tongues in order to spit blood at police and other staff.
The reintroduction of spit hoods has been condemned by advocacy groups and by the NT Children’s Commissioner. The practice has been described as contrary to human rights principles, and as likely to seriously harm young people, who often come out of detention highly traumatised.
Restriction of diversion
The NT government is also proposing to amend the Youth Justice Regulations so that 13 additional offences are designated as ‘serious offences’. These offences include burglary, robbery and dangerous driving.
A young person who is found guilty of a serious offence will be ineligible for diversion. This means that the police will no longer have the discretion to deal with these matters outside of the court system in cases where they consider it is appropriate to do so.
Instead, the young person will be sentenced by the Youth Justice Court.
This change represents a drastic narrowing of the availability of youth diversion programs in the NT.
Other recent Youth Justice Reforms
The reforms that are now being contemplated follow significant changes to the Youth Justice Act 2005 already introduced by the NT government earlier this year.
Those changes included making it more difficult for a young person charged with offences to obtain bail, and removing the principle that a young person should only be detained as a last resort.
Youth Justice reforms in other states
The NT’s reforms of its youth justice system come at a time when a number of Australian jurisdictions are legislating significant reforms to their youth justice systems. Whilst in some states, these reforms have been instigated by conservative governments and have been aimed at building tougher responses to crime, other states have implemented progressive reforms designed to reduce the criminalization and incarceration of youth.
In 2024, Queensland made sweeping changes to how young people are sentenced for serious offences under a package of reforms dubbed ‘adult crime, adult time.’ Under those changes, a child who is found guilty of certain serious offences, including murder and robbery, now faces the same mandatory minimum sentences as an adult found guilt of the same offence.
South Australia is currently consulting on a ‘three strikes’ Youth Justice Bill, under which a young person convicted of three serious offences would be deemed a ‘repeat offender’ and subject to a mandatory detention scheme.
In 2024, Victoria raised its age of criminal responsibility from 10 to 12.
In 2023, the ACT raised its age of criminal liability from 10 to 12; and in 2025, raised the minimum age further, to 14.
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Fernanda Dahlstrom is a writer, editor and lawyer. She holds a Bachelor of Laws (Latrobe University), a Graduate Diploma in Legal Practice (College of Law), a Bachelor of Arts (The University of Melbourne) and a Master of Arts (Deakin University). Fernanda practised law for eight years, working in criminal law, child protection and domestic violence law in the Northern Territory, and in family law in Queensland.
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