Justice Reform Initiative Media Release, 21 October 2024
The Northern Territory Government’s announcement of 1000 new prison beds over the next four years will cost taxpayers millions of dollars while failing to reduce crime or improve community safety.
Justice Reform Initiative executive director Dr Mindy Sotiri said that adding extra prison beds was an expensive short-term response which ignored the drivers of crime and instead entrenched disadvantage, making future reoffending more likely.
“Building new prison beds will not address the crisis in the Northern Territory and will not break any cycles of reincarceration – it will do the opposite,” she said.
“There is no evidence that imprisoning more people reduces crime. The Territory already imprisons more people than anywhere else in Australia, but it’s clear that this has not made the community safer.
“This is short-term, kneejerk policy making. We urge the NT Government to shift its focus to reducing the numbers of people flowing into the criminal justice system, instead of rushing to expensive band-aid solutions which will not ultimately address the problems. Throwing more money at a broken system will not break cycles of reoffending – we need real investment at the community level to address the drivers of crime.”
Dr Sotiri said the proposed transition of the recently refurbished Alice Springs Youth Detention Centre to a women’s prison was deeply troubling and would mean children from Central Australia would be sent to Darwin.
“It would be a monumental injustice to remove children who come into contact with the criminal justice system families, support networks, community and country in central Australia,” she said.
While the Government has reportedly so far failed to provide costings for its plans, expanding prison capacity by 1000 more beds will cost hundreds of millions of dollars. The most recent South Australian Budget included more than $205 million for 312 high security beds at Yatala Labour Prison, and $21 million to provide an additional 40 beds at the Adelaide Women’s Prison.
“Territorians need to know not just how much these extra beds will cost, but also the ongoing costs of incarceration if these beds are built,” Dr Sotiri said. “Productivity Commission data shows that the NT spent close to $300 million last year locking up adults and children. How much more are the Government going to keep investing in a system of imprisonment that we know is failing?
“We also need to know what efforts the Government has made to ensure this is the best use of taxpayer money. Before throwing money at adding new prison beds, has the Government done its due diligence and looked at an alternative business case? We urge the Government to invest this money in evidence-based alternatives to prison which deliver far better results in breaking the cycle and reducing crime.”
The Justice Reform Initiative has recently published a series of discussion papers on key reform areas including bail, as well as reports outlining the success of evidence-based alternatives to prison.
Media contact: Pia Akerman 0412 346 746
The Initiative respectfully acknowledges and supports the current and longstanding efforts of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to reduce the numbers of Indigenous people incarcerated in Australia and, importantly, the leadership role which Indigenous-led organisations continue to play on this issue. We also acknowledge the work of many other individuals and organisations seeking change, such as those focused on the rate of imprisonment for women, people with mental health issues, people with disability and others.