[2] The facility is named after Don Dale, a former Member of the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly from 1983 to 1989 and one-time Minister for Correctional Services.

[4] In February 2000, 16-year-old Aboriginal boy named Johnno Johnson Wurramarrba from Groote Eylandt died by suicide at Don Dale.

A Coronial Inquiry into the circumstances of the death resulted in a number of recommendations being made relating to training of staff and management practices in the centre.

[9] The incident, among others, was investigated by the Northern Territory Children's Commissioner Colleen Gywnne in a report provided in August 2015 to the then Corrections Minister John Elferink.

[13] Use of restraint chairs and cable ties on children was expressly legalised by the Northern Territory Government in May 2016[14] and were used at facilities in both Darwin and Alice Springs.

[15] Graphic footage of repeated child abuse at Don Dale, including the 2014 tear gas incident, was featured in ABC's Four Corners episode "Australia's Shame", which aired on 25 July 2016.

[citation needed] Following national outrage, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull announced a Royal Commission into Juvenile Detention in the Northern Territory.

The Wickham Point Detention Centre has been deemed by the Australian Human Rights Commission to be "completely inappropriate for children".

[21] Within 24 hours the decision to close the centre and relocate the detainees "had been scrapped for the time being", with Chief Minister Giles saying that the facilities at Don Dale were "good enough".

[24] In April 2018, the Northern Territory Government announced it would commit A$71.4 million to build new youth detention centres in Darwin and Alice Springs as part of a $229.6 million package to overhaul the child protection and youth justice systems and implement the recommendations of the royal commission.