Coalition of Voices Media Release, 14 October 2024

Law and justice experts, community leaders, and frontline services have called on the Northern Territory Government to reconsider rushing through regressive justice laws, warning they risk exacerbating crime rates, placing further pressure on a buckling corrections system, and compromising community safety.

With a suite of legislative reforms due to be introduced to Parliament this week, the Coalition of Voices on Justice urged the new government to consider smarter approaches that tackle the root causes of crime to address longstanding issues in the Territory.

Coalition members have expressed alarm over plans to lower the age of criminal responsibility to 10-year-olds and amendments to bail laws, including the reintroduction of breach of bail as an offence.

The group wants the government to instead ramp up investment in proven preventative and diversion programs, such as those recommended in the Justice Reform Initiative’s ‘Alternatives to Incarceration in the Northern Territory’ report (2023).

The NT Government is a signatory to the Aboriginal Justice Agreement (AJA), which upholds a commitment to ‘reduce imprisonment of Aboriginal Territorians’. These legislative reforms will have the opposite effect, making it impossible for the NT to meet its commitment to the Closing the Gap targets for reducing prison rates.

Coalition members have also criticised harsh new public drinking laws, which will lead to more vulnerable people being imprisoned and exposed to harm. 

Smarter Justice for Safer Communities Ambassador Leeanne Caton said the Territory could not continue to rely on prison as a solution to the entrenched social and economic disadvantage driving offending rates.

“It’s not too late to step away from these regressive laws,” Ms Caton said.

“The NT already locks up more children than ever and this tired, old prison-first approach has repeatedly failed to reduce crime or make our community safer.

“For young people, time incarcerated is a gateway to a future of reoffending and further prison – even for those who are found to be innocent.

“Keeping large numbers of people in prison on remand – with no access to services or support to address the root cause of their issues – leads to a cycle of offending and poses a serious risk to community safety.”

Human Rights Law Centre spokesperson Nick Espie said prisons, police watchhouses, and court cells were already overflowing, and remand wait times had doubled in the past decade.

“The NT Government’s changes will only make things worse for children and young people,” Mr Espie said.

“The system is already buckling, but the problem is not First Nations children.

“Instead of imprisoning our children, the NT Government should be investing to ensure our children grow up strong, proud, and connected to family, culture, and community.”

Jesuit Social Services spokesperson John Adams said it was time to move beyond policies that viewed crime solely as a justice issue to considering the broader socio-economic and health issues at play.

“If we are serious about reducing youth offending, we must address the root causes of crime – poverty, health, disability, housing, education, and domestic, family, and sexual violence,” Mr Adams said.

“As a society, we can do much more to help our young people break out of destructive cycles before it’s too late.”

Justice Reform Initiative spokesperson Rocket Bretherton said breaking the cycle of offending required us to recognise that “jail as the default response has failed to make us any safer.”

“This is just more of the same. Prison has a shocking record when it comes to rehabilitation, especially for kids, and locking up even more people isn’t going to change this,” they said.

“We’ve got to start backing common-sense, community-based programs that have shown they can work.”

Northern Territory Council of Social Service CEO Sally Sievers urged the NT Government to listen to frontline experts and experienced community voices on the issue.

“The prison-first approach will mean we are locking up more Territorians in prison and away from the sorts of programs and services that make a real difference in helping turn lives around,” she said.

The Coalition of Voices on Justice urges the government to pause and consult with experts, communities, and those on the frontline because there is a smarter way forward.

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