NT prison crisis see mentally disabled inmates held with general population, sparking human rights concern

ABC NEWS (Australia)

The Northern Territory’s anti-discrimination commissioner has warned the NT could be at risk of breaching an international agreement on torture and punishment over its treatment of people with severe cognitive disabilities inside prisons. It comes as advocates raise the alarm over the closure of the territory’s only secure care facility, which was repurposed under the previous government, to make way for the growing prisoner population.

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00:00One week since prisoner numbers hit record highs, a new milestone.

00:072,638 people now behind bars across the NT.

00:13The territory's only purpose-built facility for prisoners with severe mental health and cognitive disabilities

00:20now being used to accommodate an overflowing prison population.

00:24To get this secure care facility took decades.

00:27We finally got it, and it wasn't operational for very long before it was taken offline.

00:32In a statement to the ABC, the NT's Anti-Discrimination Commissioner said he raised concerns

00:38about the repurposing of the facility with the former Minister for Health

00:42and now leader of the opposition, Selina Yubo, in June 2024.

00:47With the facility still unavailable, inmates with severe disabilities are either moved

00:52to the Complex Behaviour Unit in Darwin or forced to be remanded in the general prison population.

00:59Prison guards, the correctional officers, don't have the training to deal with people

01:03that have those complex cognitive and psychiatric disabilities.

01:07The statement from the CBP also notes concerns about a potential breach of the optional protocol

01:13to the Convention Against Torture, or OPCAT, as a result of the secure care facility's closure.

01:20Across the justice system, mental health-related services are struggling to keep pace.

01:26In the courts, a lack of qualified staff who are able to assess people for diversion

01:31mean those in need of help are often being left to linger on remand.

01:36Just last week, more than 45 people, due to have their matters heard in the mental health list,

01:42were told there was no one available from the forensic mental health team to provide assessments to the court.

01:49The government maintains services helping those with mental health needs inside NT prisons are operating.

01:56Our health team is constantly working with corrections and the courts

01:59to make sure that proper treatment and proper care programs are in place.

02:04But with space for prisoners the top priority,

02:07there's concerns mental health and rehabilitation will be overlooked.

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