NT government to allow public to use pepper spray in self defence
The 12-month trial will allow the public to carry low-percentage Oleoresin Capsicum spray, better known as pepper spray, for self defence reasons and under strict legal conditions.
The NT has faced law and order issues over recent times, raising concerns within the community over safety and crime.
The Finocchiaro CLP government has passed a number of reforms since winning last year's election, including stricter bail laws and lowering the age of criminal responsibility.
'This initiative responds directly to community calls for more safety options and reflects the government's commitment to restoring the Territory lifestyle,' Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro said.
The spray is made with a nonlethal substance that an cause a painful and burning sensation, and temporarily impair vision, allowing the victims to escape, but it is not as powerful as sprays handled by police.
Pepper spray is currently classified as a 'prohibited weapon' in the NT.
Ms Finocchiaro said the trial would give residents 'more choice when it comes to personal safety'.
'We're strengthening the frontline with more police, stronger laws and better prevention, but we also believe individuals should have lawful tools to protect themselves if needed,' she said.
Pepper spray will be available for purchase from licensed dealers across the NT from September 1, 2025, and will only be eligible under strict conditions
A person must be over 18 to purchase the pepper spray, show valid NT photo ID and have no relevant serious criminal history or domestic violence orders.
They must also be purchased in person from a licensed NT dealer.
The specifics of the trial will be determined alongside the NT Police, key stakeholders, industry bodies, licensees and the broader community.
A 'community oversight reference group' will also be established to oversee how the trial is run.
She said she believed the trial would be well-received by the NT community, based on the reaction from a similar trial in Western Australia.
Western Australia is currently the only state or territory to allow people to carry the nonlethal spray, under strict conditions.
'We've seen Western Australia undertake a similar trial, and it's provided valuable insights into how a controlled, lawful model can give people greater peace of mind without compromising public safety,' Ms Finocchiaro said.
'This is about equipping Territorians with more options, not less control.
'It's a practical step that balances personal responsibility with community safety, and we'll be watching the outcomes closely through reporting and evaluation.'
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The Advertiser
32 minutes ago
- The Advertiser
'Senseless violence': boy attack fast-tracks law reform
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"But they should look Territorians in the eye and say that kids witnessing senseless violence at a family show is okay," she posted on social media on Sunday. "This is not normal. It is not acceptable. And under my government, it will not be tolerated." The alleged offender was charged with recklessly endangering life along with the possession, carry or use of a controlled weapon and remains in custody awaiting a bail review. Proposed legislative changes include considering a youth's full criminal history when sentencing for adult offences and removing detention as a last resort. Youth justice officers will have greater powers to use anti-spit guards and reasonable force to "maintain safety and prevent escapes". Powers for the territory's commissioner to manage emergencies will be expanded when legislation is passed in parliament. Advocacy group Justice Reform Initiative on Monday said removing detention as a last resort for children would increase the likelihood of future reoffending. It urged the government to instead address crime rates by tackling issues such as drug and alcohol dependency, mental health conditions, unemployment, domestic violence and homelessness. "If tougher laws and punitive approaches to detention were going to build a safer community, the NT would already be the safest place in Australia," the initiative's Mindy Sotiri said. Opposition leader Selena Uibo described the proposed overhaul as "rushed, knee-jerk laws". "This law-and-order agenda is not a strategy, it's a stunt," she said. Tough youth justice reforms have been introduced across Australia, with the NT's approach mirroring that of Queensland. Queensland's Liberal National government introduced controversial "adult crime, adult time" laws after a successful 2024 election campaign. 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The teenager remains in hospital in a serious condition. A 15-year-old has been charged, with police alleging the teen knew the victim and the alleged attack was not random. Deputy Chief Minister Gerard Maley on Monday said the law changes would "put victims first, protect frontline staff and hold serious youth offenders to account". Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro said she expected the "usual offender apologists" to criticise the crackdown. "But they should look Territorians in the eye and say that kids witnessing senseless violence at a family show is okay," she posted on social media on Sunday. "This is not normal. It is not acceptable. And under my government, it will not be tolerated." The alleged offender was charged with recklessly endangering life along with the possession, carry or use of a controlled weapon and remains in custody awaiting a bail review. 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Opposition leader Selena Uibo described the proposed overhaul as "rushed, knee-jerk laws". "This law-and-order agenda is not a strategy, it's a stunt," she said. Tough youth justice reforms have been introduced across Australia, with the NT's approach mirroring that of Queensland. Queensland's Liberal National government introduced controversial "adult crime, adult time" laws after a successful 2024 election campaign. Victoria and NSW have also introduced tougher bail laws. But the NT has what have been billed as the nation's harshest bail laws following 71-year-old Darwin grocer Linford Feick's fatal stabbing in April. Under the laws, to grant bail a court must have "a high degree of confidence" an offender is not going to pose a risk to the community. The NT government committed a record $1.5 billion towards law-and-order spending in its May budget. A shocking showground stabbing of a teenager has fast-tracked a crime-hit territory's youth justice crackdown. 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"But they should look Territorians in the eye and say that kids witnessing senseless violence at a family show is okay," she posted on social media on Sunday. "This is not normal. It is not acceptable. And under my government, it will not be tolerated." The alleged offender was charged with recklessly endangering life along with the possession, carry or use of a controlled weapon and remains in custody awaiting a bail review. Proposed legislative changes include considering a youth's full criminal history when sentencing for adult offences and removing detention as a last resort. Youth justice officers will have greater powers to use anti-spit guards and reasonable force to "maintain safety and prevent escapes". Powers for the territory's commissioner to manage emergencies will be expanded when legislation is passed in parliament. Advocacy group Justice Reform Initiative on Monday said removing detention as a last resort for children would increase the likelihood of future reoffending. It urged the government to instead address crime rates by tackling issues such as drug and alcohol dependency, mental health conditions, unemployment, domestic violence and homelessness. "If tougher laws and punitive approaches to detention were going to build a safer community, the NT would already be the safest place in Australia," the initiative's Mindy Sotiri said. Opposition leader Selena Uibo described the proposed overhaul as "rushed, knee-jerk laws". "This law-and-order agenda is not a strategy, it's a stunt," she said. Tough youth justice reforms have been introduced across Australia, with the NT's approach mirroring that of Queensland. Queensland's Liberal National government introduced controversial "adult crime, adult time" laws after a successful 2024 election campaign. Victoria and NSW have also introduced tougher bail laws. But the NT has what have been billed as the nation's harshest bail laws following 71-year-old Darwin grocer Linford Feick's fatal stabbing in April. Under the laws, to grant bail a court must have "a high degree of confidence" an offender is not going to pose a risk to the community. The NT government committed a record $1.5 billion towards law-and-order spending in its May budget. A shocking showground stabbing of a teenager has fast-tracked a crime-hit territory's youth justice crackdown. But the Northern Territory's proposed law changes have come under fire, with an advocacy group claiming they will likely increase offending. The Country Liberal Party government has vowed to table legislation "on urgency" to overhaul the Youth Justice Act when parliament sits from Tuesday. It comes just days after a 15-year-old was stabbed in front of stunned onlookers at the Royal Darwin Show on Saturday. The teenager remains in hospital in a serious condition. A 15-year-old has been charged, with police alleging the teen knew the victim and the alleged attack was not random. Deputy Chief Minister Gerard Maley on Monday said the law changes would "put victims first, protect frontline staff and hold serious youth offenders to account". Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro said she expected the "usual offender apologists" to criticise the crackdown. "But they should look Territorians in the eye and say that kids witnessing senseless violence at a family show is okay," she posted on social media on Sunday. "This is not normal. It is not acceptable. And under my government, it will not be tolerated." The alleged offender was charged with recklessly endangering life along with the possession, carry or use of a controlled weapon and remains in custody awaiting a bail review. Proposed legislative changes include considering a youth's full criminal history when sentencing for adult offences and removing detention as a last resort. Youth justice officers will have greater powers to use anti-spit guards and reasonable force to "maintain safety and prevent escapes". Powers for the territory's commissioner to manage emergencies will be expanded when legislation is passed in parliament. Advocacy group Justice Reform Initiative on Monday said removing detention as a last resort for children would increase the likelihood of future reoffending. It urged the government to instead address crime rates by tackling issues such as drug and alcohol dependency, mental health conditions, unemployment, domestic violence and homelessness. "If tougher laws and punitive approaches to detention were going to build a safer community, the NT would already be the safest place in Australia," the initiative's Mindy Sotiri said. 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ABC News
12 hours ago
- ABC News
Nearly 400 Indigenous children and teens held in NT police watch houses over six-month period
Almost 400 Indigenous children and teenagers have been held in the Northern Territory's notorious police watch houses over a six-month period, the ABC can reveal. Exactly how long the children were kept in the watch houses may never been known, however, with NT Police admitting they are recording erroneous time-spent-in-custody information. The ABC has obtained nearly 60 pages of confidential NT Police data under Freedom of Information (FOI) laws, tracking youths in custody from August 25, 2024, to March 5, 2025. The Country Liberal Party government was elected on a tough-on-crime platform on August 24. NT Police initially refused to release the data to the ABC, so it had to be sourced through FOI. The data shows there were nearly 870 youth "custody events" in NT police watch houses over the six months. The custody events involved 402 individual youths, some of whom were recidivist offenders. Of the 402 youths, the dataset — which NT Police confirmed was correct — shows 388 were Indigenous. A police spokesperson who confirmed the numbers said all watch houses were "managed through strict policy, procedures and instructions". "The primary consideration in relation to people in police custody is the safety and welfare of the individual," they said. The independent member for Mulka in the NT parliament, Yingiya Guyula, said children in watch houses were being "traumatised in a way that does not encourage rehabilitation". "I have visited the watch house in Palmerston and holding people for days in these conditions is just cruel," he said. The government lowered the age of criminal responsibility from 12 to 10 in October 2024. As of 2024, there were 27,400 people aged between 10 and 17 in the NT. It means around 1.5 per cent of children in that age bracket spent time in NT watch houses over the six months. The statistics cover six NT watch houses, including the Peter McAuley Centre police headquarters in Darwin, Katherine, Tennant Creek, Alice Springs and Palmerston. Some are notoriously overcrowded, with windowless cells and the lights on 24 hours a day. They are meant to be used only as a stopgap place for the youths to be processed after their arrests, before they are delivered to a newly built youth detention centre in Darwin. Last week, the NT's Aboriginal legal aid service NAAJA revealed an 11-year-old girl had been left for a night and two days in the Palmerston watch house. In March, a 15-year-old girl was held in the Palmerston watch house for three nights after the local court ceased after-hours bail reviews for young people. The treatment of children in watch houses in Queensland has also been under scrutiny, with a state police review finding youths were spending an average of 161 hours in the facilities. As part of the ABC's FOI request, NT Police released data logs showing how long each child had spent in custody. The data indicated that, while the vast majority were in custody for less than 24 hours, some had spent up to 25 days at a time inside Palmerston watch house. Others were recorded to have been kept in watch houses for six, seven or eight-day periods. When asked to confirm the accuracy of the data, the NT Police spokesperson said it was erroneous: "The Northern Territory Police Force can confirm that the data provided does not accurately reflect the actual time youths have spent in custody. "While the report you received reflects what was recorded in the system at the time, it does not account for process variations that can affect how custody end times are calculated." The spokesperson said police could not provide an accurate time frame for each of the 870 custody cases, as it would require "a manual analysis of each custody incident". "No youths have been held in police watch houses for 25 days straight," they said. In November 2023, NT Police replaced its decades-old crime data IT software with a new system named SerPro. Initially budgeted at $45 million, the cost of rolling out SerPro increased to $58 million, and it's been plagued with issues since it began operating. Nathan Finn, the president of the NT's police union, said he was not surprised the time-in-custody data was erroneous, considering the issues police faced with the system. "Since the establishment of the SerPro system, we've seen a number of data issues and how that's been calculated," he said. "We've seen this and raised these concerns over a number of periods of time since the implementation of [SerPro]. "[SerPro] probably creates a 25 per cent increase in workload in managing a prisoner … within the custody facility." Mr Finn said it would be unprecedented for youths to be held for weeks at a time in watch houses. "We have youth that are in custody sometimes for two days or three days at maximum, depending on where they're remanded to and the availability of transferring them into a correctional facility," he said. He said the data issues needed to be fixed immediately. "If the police force is receiving this data and it's incorrect, how are they guiding their own policies and procedures?" he said. "How are they managing any risks that are identified, or any concerns that they may have in the custody space?" Mr Guyula agreed that the erroneous data needed to be fixed immediately. "We don't trust the information that we are being given," he said. "The police data shows some children are being held in watch houses for long periods, even weeks. "If the data is not correct, the police need to provide the correct data.
News.com.au
14 hours ago
- News.com.au
Youth crime crackdown: CLP to ‘overhaul' NT Youth Justice Act
Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro has vowed to toughen the Youth Justice Act following the alleged stabbing of a teenage boy at the Royal Darwin Show, with the Chief Minister saying legislation will be 'introduced on urgency' this week in Parliament. At the Royal Darwin Show on Saturday evening, a knife was allegedly plunged into a 15 year-old boy during an altercation, triggering panic. The alleged victim was rushed to hospital in a serious condition. On Sunday morning, Ms Finocchiaro, who enjoyed the show's festivities the day before the stabbing, took aim at the 'apologists' who 'have come out against' her government's crime package. 'Let's be clear, our current reality is the result of years of Labor's soft, offender-first policies,' she said. ' Yesterday at the Royal Darwin Show, a 15-year-old allegedly stabbed another child in front of Territorians who were simply trying to enjoy the event. 'This is not normal. It is not acceptable. And under my Government, it will not be tolerated.' Ms Finocchiaro then doubled down on 'replacing Labor's broken system', 'This week in Parliament, we will be changing the Youth Justice Act to end Labor's failed catch-and-release scheme,' she said. 'We expect the usual offender apologists to criticise our efforts, but they should look Territorians in the eye and say that kids witnessing senseless violence at a family show is okay. 'Legislation will be introduced on urgency to overhaul the Youth Justice Act 2005 and Youth Justice Regulations 2006.' The changes follow months of youth related crime that has seen carjackings, home invasions, ram raids, edged weapons incidents, bashings and riotous behaviour. The key changes which will be tabled include: For courts to now consider a youth's full criminal history when sentencing for adult offences; Removing 'detention as a last resort'; Stronger powers for Youth Justice Officers to use spit-guards and 'reasonable force' to maintain safety and prevent escapes; Expanded powers for the Commissioner to manage emergencies, aligning with the Correctional Services Act. Further, the CLP say additional effects will materialise through the changes, including the definition of 'escape', the strengthening of victim engagement and aligning chief executive powers with the Corrections Services Act. In early July, Ms Finocchiaro announced she would expand the list of serious offences that are ineligible for youth diversion. The 13 'prescribed offences' included riot related charges, violent act causing death, recklessly endangering serious harm, negligently causing serious harm, hit-and-run, dangerous driving during pursuit, assaults on workers, police or with the intent to steal, robbery, burglary, using a stolen motor vehicle and making off without payment. The NT Parliament will meet between July 29 - July 31. The reforms respond to repeated community concerns and real cases where young offenders reoffended while on bail, putting the community at further risk. Minister for Corrections Gerard Maley said the reforms respond to repeated community concerns and real cases where young offenders reoffended while on bail, putting the community at further risk. 'Territorians have a right to safe streets and communities, victims have a right to a responsible justice system, and serious offenders have the right to remain silent,' said Mr Maley.
