New NT laws will limit the time children and suspected young offenders spend in police custody.
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The circumstances of a young person being held in custody will be reviewed by a police senior sergeant every four hours and by a judge after 24 hours.
The time limit used to be seven days.
New laws were passed in NT Parliament this week to give police and the courts more discretion to choose the right consequences for young offenders.
The Government says the amendments will keep communities safer and ensures that young people who do the wrong thing face the consequences by removing barriers to youth diversion programs and providing a more effective bail application model. It will also ensure consistency in young people's access to legal assistance, information, and privacy.
The key changes to the Youth Justice Act, Bail Act, and Police Administration Act include:
- Removing the barriers to youth diversion - so that Police can direct young people to address their offending behaviour faster and more effectively through referrals to youth diversion programs.
- Improving the application of bail - so that young people can be held to account quicker by streamlining the bail process. Police will continue to have the power to arrest and hold young people who breach their bail, the difference is that there will now be fewer steps in the process. Instead of accumulating breach of bail charges, Police will be able to bring young people before the Courts sooner and the Courts will be able to make decisions about the original offences and breaches sooner.
- Ensuring earlier access to legal assistance for young people - so that young people have timely legal representation and are informed of their legal rights in an appropriate manner and language.
- Victims, witnesses, support people, relevant staff and genuine representatives of the media will be permitted in closed court proceedings. Any other member of the public may seek approval of the Court to attend the proceedings.
The Bill implements 11 recommendations of the Royal Commission into the Protection and Detention of Children in the NT.
Since the Government began its reform of the youth justice system, recent statistics show:
- 83% of young people who undertook pre-court youth justice conferences did not re-offend within 12 months.
- Just under 70% of all young people on bail orders have successfully completed their bail orders, the highest completion rate in more than 7 years.
- 75% of young people in bail accommodation have completed their bail orders.
- 80% of young people who completed Operation Flinders have not offended post-camp.
- 71% of young people have successfully completed their community based orders, compared to just 51% three years ago when we first came to Government.
Territory Families Minister Dale Wakefield said: "These changes will make sure that young people who do the wrong thing face the consequences of their actions quicker and prevent re-offending by referring them to programs that will address offending behaviour. This means safer communities.
"Since the Government began its reform of the youth justice system, we are seeing proof that our early intervention, prevention, and youth diversion programs and services are working."
The Bill is a backward step for the Territory which is already in the grips of a crime crisis, according to deputy Opposition leader Lia Finocchiaro.
Ms Finocchiaro said the Opposition had concerns for victims of crime, who seem to have been left out of the Government's minds when drafting this new legislation.
"Territorians for too long have suffered from record high rates of property crime, and now this incompetent Government want to put the rights of offenders above them," she said.
"Territorians already feel like there are no consequences for youth offenders, particularly repeat offenders, and if this Bill passes, breach of bail conditions will no longer be an offence so the Opposition is really questioning the so-called consequences this Government is implementing.
"We have completely lost faith in this Government to get anything right, and we question if they even know how to govern."
"Under this legislation, repeat offenders, and offenders who repeatedly breach bail conditions, will still enjoy a presumption in favour of bail.
"There should be clear and consistent consequences for doing the wrong thing, and making it easier for repeat offenders to get bail is not what Territorians expect, nor is it sending the right message to offenders."
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