New Youth Detention Crackdown Not the Answer

CLANT endorses this statement issued on 2 June 2015 by the Making Justice Work coalition, calling on the Northern Territory Government to urgently:

1. establish purpose-built detention facilities in Darwin and Alice Springs for the Northern Territory’s most vulnerable children and young people, or, alternatively, upgrade the former Don Dale youth detention centre to an acceptable contemporary standard;
2. publicly release the previous Children’s Commissioner’s independent investigation into youth detention; and
3. establish an Independent Custodial Inspector (such as exists in Western Australia) who has unfettered access to youth detention centres to ensure national and international standards are being complied with.