The Northern Territory Acting Children's Commissioner says she is "seriously concerned" after multiple recent incidents of self-harm inside Darwin's Don Dale youth detention facility.
Acting Children's Commissioner Nicole Hucks said the incidents, and the overall mental health of children inside Don Dale, were extremely troubling.
"I have visited Don Dale Youth Detention Centre twice this week and am seriously concerned about the evident deteriorating mental health of children in Don Dale Youth Detention Centre," she said.
"Upon request, I have received briefings from Territory Families on these incidents and the response provided."
Ms Hucks linked the mental health issues inside Don Dale to "continual and systematic use of extended lockdowns" within the facility — a measure she said was being used more commonly after the NT government introduced tougher bail laws for young people last year.
At the time, the former children's commissioner said the bail changes would see more children and young people end up in detention and "doom future generations of Territory children to a life within the justice system".
In November 2021, the NT government released data showing youth detainee numbers in the Northern Territory had hit their highest point since the 2017 youth detention royal commission reported its findings.
Ms Hucks also said the use of extended lockdowns inside Don Dale was a result of staffing shortages.
Territory Families confirmed there were 54 incidents of self-harm between July 2021 and December 2021 inside Don Dale, a more than 500 per cent increase from the corresponding period in 2020, when there were eight instances of self-harm reported.
In a statement, Territory Families Minister Kate Worden said: "Young people in the Northern Territory's detention centres have access to a comprehensive range of primary and allied health care services to respond to their physical and wellbeing requirements.
"The identification, response and management of young people at risk of self-harm or suicide is a complex issue requiring an integrated and collaborative approach involving Youth Justice Staff, Danila Dilba Health Service and other health service providers," she said.
There are two Territory Families psychologists at Don Dale, according to a spokeswoman from the department.
Union questions staff recruitment
On Thursday, the union in charge of staff inside Don Dale said it understood multiple young people had been taken to hospital following incidents of self-harm inside the facility last weekend.
Kay Densley, the Community and Public Sector Union's (CPSU) regional secretary, said Territory Families was "not staffing up [Don Dale] enough to a safe level".
She said insufficient staffing inside Don Dale was exacerbated by the surge of young people held in detention inside the facility directly linked to last year's changes to bail laws.
"The department actually staffed up because of the bail laws. They knew it was likely there were going to be more people that had to go to into Don Dale," she said.
But Ms Densley said the recruitment did not go far enough and had been conducted poorly by the government, risking future staff attrition at Don Dale.
"They did staff up, but what they did was staff up on temporary contracts," she said.
"We are still having a conversation with the department about what they are doing [regarding staffing levels and contracts]."
Ms Densely said the precarity of temporary contracts, ongoing staffing shortages and the recent incidents inside the facility were affecting staff morale.
"It can be a dangerous job, and people need basic security in their employment," she said.
"[Don Dale] is not fit for purpose, and unless they change the legislation, the numbers [of young people inside] aren't going to decrease … the numbers are going to keep increasing."
In response to the issues raised by the CPSU, Ms Worden said Territory Families had recruited more staff to work inside Don Dale.
"Towards the end of last year, 56 new youth justice officers began working across our youth justice centres," she said.
"They do important work which at times is not always easy. It is mandatory for all new Youth Justice Officers to successfully complete undertake a Certificate IV in Youth Justice and a six-week Youth Justice Officer Induction Course before commencing work in NT detention centres."
'There could not be a louder call to action'
Human rights organisation Change the Record said the self-harm incidents were not unusual given "children are put in highly stressful, very mentally distressing situations" inside the facility.
Sophie Trevitt, the executive officer of Change the Record, said the incidents could be linked directly with the NT government's changes to bail laws last year.
"What this has resulted in is an over 200 per cent increase in the number of children behind bars, whether for short periods of time on remand or for longer periods of time," she said.
"And Don Dale is not fit for purpose. It is not big enough to properly accommodate these children. They do not have adequate staffing to make sure these children are being looked after.
"As a result, you have a pressure cooker, where you have a large number of kids in the space that is not big enough, not stimulating enough, and means that they are being locked in their cells for protracted periods of time every day.
"And this is causing immense distress and unrest within the facility."
Ms Trevitt said ensuring the safety of children inside the facility could be partially addressed through raising the age of criminal responsibility, currently 10 in the Northern Territory, to at least 14.
"There could not be a louder call to action [to raise the age] than multiple children harming themselves under the care of the Northern Territory government," she said.
In a statement, NT Attorney-General Chansey Paech reaffirmed the government's pledge to raise the age of criminal responsibility to 12 — a recommendation handed down by the youth detention royal commission in 2017.
On social media on Thursday, Mr Paech wrote: "The age will be raised and it'll be done in this term of government."
