Northern Territory Auditor-General's Office, February 2023 Report to the Legislative Assembly
Tabled Paper 772
Tabled Papers for 14th Assembly 2020 -; Tabled Papers; ParliamentNT
2023-02-14
Tabled by the Speaker
Made available by the Legislative Assembly of the Northern Territory under Standing Order 240. Where copyright subsists with a third party it remains with the original owner and permission may be required to reuse the material.
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Tabled papers
Legislative Assembly of the Northern Territory
Darwin
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Legislative Assembly of the Northern Territory
https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/C2019C00042
https://hdl.handle.net/10070/898837
https://hdl.handle.net/10070/898851
Auditor-General for the Northern Territory February 2023 Report Page 84 of 131 Youth Justice Facility Selected Agencies Background Territory Families, Housing and Community (TFHC) provides support services across child protection, domestic and family violence, youth justice services, housing, homelessness, social inclusion, sport and active recreation and supports the Territorys arts, culture, heritage, libraries and archives. TFHC operates 2 youth detention centres, the Don Dale Youth Detention Centre in Darwin and the Alice Springs Youth Detention Centre in Alice Springs. Young people are sentenced to youth detention by the Courts. On average there are about 25 young people in youth detention across the Northern Territory each day. This includes young men and women and those that are on remand or have been sentenced. The Northern Territory Government has committed to build a new purpose-built Youth Justice Centre in Darwin, in line with the recommendations made by the Royal Commission into the Protection and Detention of Children in the NT. Existing infrastructure at the Alice Springs Youth Detention Centre will also be redeveloped to better meet the needs of at risk young people, detention centre staff and visitors. Construction work will begin late July 2020. (NTG Youth Justice Website: Detention Centres, 2021) By 2021-22, the average number of young people in youth detention per day had increased to 51. TFHCs 2018-19 and 2019-20 Annual Reports disclosed A site at Holtze was announced for the new Darwin Youth Justice Centre to deliver a secure rehabilitative youth justice program. The delivery of the Northern Territory Government (NTG)s Infrastructure Program and maintenance of the NTGs Infrastructure Portfolio is performed by the Department of Infrastructure, Planning and Logistics (DIPL). The NT Infrastructure Plan 2021 identifies the delivery of the Darwin Youth Justice Centre as a priority project, with a total estimated cost of $64 million. Budget Paper 4 - The Infrastructure Program (Budget Paper 4) committed the following funds to the project over the past 3 financial years: Financial Year $000 Budget 2019-20 Darwin and Alice Springs 70,000* Budget 2020-21 Darwin 54,780 Budget 2020-21 Alice Springs 24,021 Budget 2021-22 Darwin 43,280 Budget 2021-22 Alice Springs 11,959 * Includes the decommissioning costs associated with the Darwin detention centre as part of stage 1 Budget Paper 4 reports the total approved program committed to a project. DIPL representatives explained this represents the remaining budget on a project for the life of the project. The Darwin Youth Justice Centre Factsheet communicates that TFHC has consulted with young people in detention, Traditional Owners, Aboriginal stakeholder groups, legal services, local government and Youth Justice Officers in the development of the design for the Centre.