Key Points
- Mililma May's calls come as the federal government offers support to raise the age of criminal responsibility.
- But this has been criticised as a band-aid solution to a bigger issue.
Larrakia and Danggalaba woman Mililma May feels responsible for the children inside Don Dale Youth Detention Centre in Berrimah, east of the Northern Territory capital, Darwin.
“The fact that Don Dale exists on my Country means that it’s my responsibility and obligation to make sure that our kids are actually being nourished and looked after,” the 23-year-old says.
The Northern Territory has youth detention centres, for people aged 10 to 17, in Darwin and Alice Springs. As of 20 June, there were 36 young people in detention in Darwin and 18 in Alice Springs.
In those facilities, managed by Territory Families, Housing and Communities, 50 of the young people are Aboriginal, while four are non-Aboriginal. At its peak in June last year there were 45 young people in detention in Darwin and 19 in Alice Springs.
“Seventy-five per cent of those children are on remand, which means that they have not yet been convicted of a crime, if they ever will be convicted of a crime,” Ms May says.
“They are simply in there waiting for their court date to find out if they will be committed of a crime.”
In the Northern Territory, the age of criminal responsibility is 10. The Territory's criminal code act states: “A child aged 10 years or more but under 14 years old can only be criminally responsible for an offence if the child knows that his or her conduct is wrong”.
“We want Don Dale shut and we want youth detention centres to not exist. However, we need alternatives,” Ms May says.
The youth justice advocate - who says her own childhood came with the privilege of not ending up in the justice system - believes having children incarcerated is perpetuating a vicious cycle, and more effective and Indigenous-led alternatives should be used in place of incarceration.
“When you remove a child from their family, from their community and from their Country, you are literally uprooting them,” she says.
When you remove a child from their family, from their community and from their Country, you are literally uprooting them.Mililma May, Youth justice advocate
Criminal barrister John Lawrence SC has been practising law in the Territory for 35 years. He says detainees at Don Dale are on the site of what was once used as an adult maximum-security jail.
He's been representing at least one 11-year-old boy who had been detained at Don Dale and says putting children in there is detrimental to their mental health.
“There are psychological reports before the court in relation to this child, which tells the court that he suffers from psychological damage caused by trauma,” Mr Lawrence says.
“To put a child like that in a cell previously occupied by a paedophile or a killer is going to compound the kid's condition.
“This is all unlawful. This is reckless negligence.”
Barrister John Lawrence says children shouldn't be detained in former prison facilities.
“We want Don Dale empty, if that means that we have to come up with the solutions, then that's what we are going to do, because if they won't close it, then we’ll just empty it,” she says.
She says these solutions already exist — they just need support from those in charge.
“People in power need to listen to each community group to find out what they see as a solution for their children who are in Don Dale,” she says.
“I cannot speak for anyone living in Maningrida or anyone living in Alice Springs but what we know for up here in Darwin is simple solutions; basketball courts being renovated, making sure libraries are open, making sure that parks are fun and safe, making sure that there are facilities around town so that kids don't have to resort to making up their own fun in potentially criminal ways.”
Ms May says while there are a number of youth services in the Territory, one model that she’s seen working is the program "Brother to Another".
Founded last year, the initiative run by Jye Cardona aims to empower young people, working with children as young as 10 and focusing on youth justice, out-of-home care, social and emotional wellbeing and workforce development.
According to the service’s progress report, which outlines its first six months of operation from last December to May this year, young people were granted bail in place of incarceration on three separate occasions and one client was given a suspended sentence.
“We have the solutions, and we have the answers. But we need the trust of the people in power to let us help our own people,” Ms May says.
Milima May says she will empty Don Dale Detention Centre if the government doesn't close it.
This month, the federal Minister for Indigenous Australians, Linda Burney, committed to raising the age of criminal responsibility nationally. The United Nations recommends all countries raise the age to at least 14.
“While the states and territories have responsibility for the justice system and corrections facilities, we must redouble our efforts across all portfolios to reduce the increasing number of young people entering youth detention,” Ms Burney told SBS News in a statement.
“This includes raising the minimum age of criminal responsibility, which I support.”
Her call to action comes after four self-harm incidents, including one suicide attempt, at the Don Dale facility in the past fortnight.
“All cases of self-harm and suicide, particularly among children, are deeply distressing and tragic,” she said.
Minister for Indigenous Australians Linda Burney gives an address during an Uluru Statement From The Heart Summit in Sydney on 16 June, 2022. Source: AAP / DAN HIMBRECHTS
“My 11-year-old client’s day consisted of him being locked in his cell, which is a three by two-metre steel, concrete, room with a Judas hatch [a small door within the main cell door],” he says.
“He's kept in there and every four hours he’s allowed out for a quarter of an hour only to be taken out and sat down in an adjacent piece of concrete.
“He sits there for a quarter of an hour and then he’s put back in the cell and remains in there till the next day.”
In every state and territory in Australia, children as young as 10 can be held criminally responsible, if they know their conduct is wrong.
Earlier this month, the Tasmanian government promised to raise the minimum age of detention from 10 to 14, but not the age of criminal responsibility. The Australian Capital Territory was the first jurisdiction to support raising the age, but is yet to do so.
In the Territory, Attorney-General and Minister for Justice Chansey Paech has said he’s committed to raising the age of criminal responsibility from 10 to 12.
“I am working with my Cabinet colleagues to implement this constructive law reform that will make a positive difference to the lives of all Territorians,” he said in a statement provided to SBS News.
“To support this, we need to make sure we have services in place for at-risk young people who are below the age of criminal responsibility.”
Raising the age has been criticised as a “convenient red herring” and a step away from practical solutions within the grasp of the federal government, Mr Lawrence says.
“The federal parliament could pass an act, which would make it unlawful for any child to be continually kept in this horror show [Don Dale], and that’s what should happen here.”
The federal parliament could pass an act, which would make it unlawful for any child to be continually kept in this horror show.John Lawrence, Barrister
Don Dale was the focus of a 2016/17 Royal Commission after footage of the treatment of juvenile detainees was broadcast as part of an ABC Four Corners investigation.
In its final report, the Royal Commission recommended the Territory government close the centre and replace it with a new purpose-built facility. At the time, all 227 recommendations - in intent and direction - were accepted, 10 of which it said would require action from the Commonwealth.
Five years later, Don Dale remains open.
Mr Lawrence says he doesn’t agree detention centres should be abolished completely, but rather that more culturally and age-appropriate support is imperative.
“Re-engaging with their language and their culture and their families and so forth. All of that can be done and should be done.”
A spokesperson for the Northern Territory government said it is building a new centre in Darwin, set to open in late 2023, and that “Don Dale Detention Centre will be closed”.
The new facility is under construction, but was “delayed after community concerns with the original location,” the spokesperson said.
The spokesperson added the new facility would be in line with requirements set out by the Royal Commission in terms of “balancing therapeutic design and programs with safety and security”.
“It will ensure youth in detention are able to access support and develop life skills that are age and culturally appropriate, including safety, health and education outcomes with connection, or reconnection, to culture, community and family a priority.
“The facility will also include a medical and wellbeing hub including dental facilities, a learning hub with flexible vocational training suite, teaching kitchen, sport and recreation facilities, cultural court, visitor and IT rich video conference suites.”
A small group of activists gathered outside the Northern Territory's Don Dale youth detention centre to demand an end to the continued detention of children, in Darwin, on 31 December, 2021. Source: AAP / AARON BUNCH
“I don't hold any hope for it,” he says.
“And it looks like it's going to be completed at the earliest, in October of next year, which probably means 2024.
“So you're looking at another two years, 18 months, where children are going to be going in there.”
Ms May says she has to hold onto hope but ultimately wants all detention centres closed and emptied.
“We absolutely have to have hope and trust in people that they can fulfil what they say they're going to do.
"If we don't have hope, then there's no point."
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