New Public Behaviour Offences (NT)
During 2024, the NT government introduced several new criminal offences into its Criminal Code Act. These offences were introduced to address specific types of behaviour that had become common and that the government believed were not adequately covered by other existing offences. They formed part of a widespread push to legislate to make the community safer and reduce crime. This page outlines the new offences and the penalties that apply.
Ram raids
Under section 241A of the Criminal Code Act 1983, it is an offence to intentionally use a vehicle to cause damage to property. This offence carries a maximum penalty of ten years imprisonment.
Posting and boasting
Under section 276H of the Criminal Code Act 1983, it is an offence to post material online that depicts certain offences with the intention of glorifying the conduct, boasting of the conduct, encouraging others to engage in the conduct, or increasingly the reputation or notoriety of a person who engaged in the conduct.
The offence that the posting and boasting provision applies to include offences involving vehicle and vessels, criminal damage, theft, assaults and causing serious harm.
This offence carries a maximum penalty of two years imprisonment.
Nuisance public drinking
Under section 171A of the Liquor Act 2019 it is an offence to consume alcohol in a prohibited public place and to cause a nuisance to other people in the vicinity. This offence is punishable by a fine of five penalty units.
Prohibited public places include town centres and other places that are prescribed as alcohol free under regulations or by a local council. Exemptions apply in certain areas including East Point, Mindil Beach and the Nightcliff foreshore.
Police can issue on-the-spot fines to people drinking illegally. They can also issue a seven-day banned drinker order, prohibiting someone from buying liquor from a bottle shop. Police can also run searches on DVOs, outstanding warrants, and breaches of bail on persons found illegally drinking.
Why were these offences introduced?
These offences were introduced in response to a reported rise in particular types of offending.
Posting and boasting
The NT government introduced these offences in response to an increase in the use of social media to publicise and glorify dangerous behaviour and to incite others to engage in such behaviour.
The offence makes it possible for the police to prosecute a person for their online behaviour, as well as for the criminal acts it relates to. A person can also be prosecuted under this law if they were not involved in the offending they were publicising.
Ram raids
The ram raid offence was introduced after a number of reports of people stealing vehicles and using them for ‘ram raids.’ The term refers to the use of a vehicle to cause damage to a building or structure in order to steal – for example, driving a car into a shop window in order to enter the shop and steal.
Other reforms
The Country Liberal government has also passed other criminal law reforms aimed at addressing dangerous behaviour in public. These include making it more difficult for a person to get bail, changing the age of criminal liability from 12 back to 10, and reintroducing mandatory sentencing provisions for breaches of DVOs and for assaults on workers.
Community responses
The reforms have been widely criticised for perpetuating a punitive approach to complex social issues and further criminalising people from disadvantaged communities.
The Territory prison system is already at breaking point, with record numbers of prisoners in both the adult and youth correctional facilities. Concerns have been raised that the tougher bail laws will exacerbate this problem, and lead to worse outcomes, including increased rates of recidivism.
The new liquor offences have also been criticised as likely to disproportionately affect Indigenous people, to be perceived as racist and discriminatory, and to lead to worsened relationships with the police.
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