Juvenile detention in the Northern Territory

The Ward Report described the treatment of juvenile offenders as a matter of grave concern: Fannie Bay Gaol closed in 1979 and was replaced by the new Berrimah Prison.

The Giles House, located in Alice Springs, was opened as the Northern Territory's first juvenile detention center in 1984, implemented with a focus on "providing detainees with life skills and education, thereby ensuring young offenders were not put in prisons; that they did not come under the influence of hardened criminals and that they did not, after being released, follow a life of crime.

The Wildman River Wilderness Work Camp was also established in 1987 as a male-only, long-term remand and sentenced detention center with a community service system based on the "Outward Bound" model of providing youths with a series of increasingly challenging tasks.

[5][8] When the Labor Party won office for the first time in 2001 it repealed the mandatory sentencing laws, merged Correction Services into the Department of Justice and closed Wildman River Wilderness Work Camp.

[9][10] The Don Dale Juvenile Detention Centre was penned to close down after an incident in August 2014 when a detainee escaped his cell, leading to prison authorities using tear gas.

[13] Another proposal not followed through was put forward in June 2015 by the then-Minister for Correctional Services John Elferink to send young offenders to adult prison, without the approval of a court.

[14] Throughout 2015 and 2016, allegations of staff violence and child abuse surfaced, including reports of detainees being assaulted, stripped naked, and "caged up like animals".

[20] In July 2016, the ABC investigative journalism and current affairs program Four Corners broadcast the episode "Australia's Shame", which contained previously confidential footage showing detainees at the Don Dale Juvenile Detention Centre being threatened, assaulted, stripped naked and chained to mechanical restraint chairs, sparking national and international attention.

[32] Frank began a self-funded program in the 2010s to help give Aboriginal boys and girls who have been in trouble a second chance in life, teaching them skills such as catching bulls, building fences and mustering.

[31] In mid-2020, the Northern Territory Government started funding for the program, committing A$4.5 million to run youth camps over the following five years.

Dale Wakefield, the NT Minister for Territory Families, said that the camps "not only focus on personal responsibility and consequences, but they will also give young people a way out of crime by connecting them with practical learning, vocational education training and work programs".

Permanent accommodation will be built for residents of the long-term camps, who will be youths struggling to get out of the juvenile justice system in the Northern Territory.