NT criticised again on prisoners
The Northern Territory government has been criticised after the release of official figures showing prisons are overflowing and operating above 100 per cent capacity.
NT Correctional Services figures, released this week, reveal there are a record-high 1833 prisoners or about 111 per cent of design capacity.
The Alice Springs prison is at 128 per cent capacity, with 642 inmates in a facility built to handle up to 500.
The Northern Territory has by far the highest rate of imprisonment in Australia with the majority of prisoners Aboriginal.
Youth detention numbers have also risen.
The government is due to announce on Friday its "financial response" after it said last month it would accept the 227 recommendations of the royal commission into youth detention.
These include banning the use of tear gas and force or restraint to discipline children following a scandal that uncovered physical abuse of boys in detention.
The Gunner Labor government was sending more men and women to prison than ever before, a direct result of its failure to repeal mandatory sentencing laws, Human Rights Law Centre lawyer Shahleena Musk said in a statement.
"These terrifying statistics paint a picture of an unfair and damaging criminal justice system that is geared towards separating families and communities and locking people up in dead end prisons," she said.
"With the stroke of a pen the Gunner government can begin to turn the tide on this crisis by repealing mandatory sentencing laws."
Mr Gunner said the government was committed to breaking the cycle of people ending up in detention in the NT but it was a major inter-generational problem that could not be fixed overnight.
He said priorities to be announced would include ensuring investment in the crucial "first 1000 days" of a child's life, and better diversion, community work and activities outside of youth justice.
