Northern Territory prison crisis deepens as women speak out about harsh Alice Springs watchhouse conditions

ABC NEWS (Australia)

As the Northern Territory's prison crisis deepens, two women in custody have spoken out about the harsh conditions inside the Alice Springs watchhouse. Their accounts have sparked renewed calls for urgent reform.

Transcript

00:00A grim account from inside the Alice Springs Watch House.

00:07Some days there are nearly 20 women in a cell.

00:10When there are this many, we have to share a mattress as there's not enough room for

00:13everyone to have a mattress.

00:15In affidavits to the Alice Springs local court, two Aboriginal women describe their living

00:20conditions in overcrowded cells, including drinking from water bubblers above the cell's

00:26only toilet, a facility that is often blocked, and being forced to use sinks filled with

00:31vomit and saliva.

00:34The cell really stinks and is disgusting.

00:37You cannot get away from the smell.

00:40Rocket Bretherton knows the long-term impacts of the justice system all too well.

00:45It's very traumatising being in that situation and the situation that these people are in

00:50at the moment is even worse.

00:53You know, we're setting these people up for a lifetime of failure.

00:56The Northern Territories Peak Aboriginal Alliance are calling for urgent change.

01:01We're calling on governments that that must stop.

01:03That's got to stop.

01:04This is inhumane treatment and it's unacceptable in this day and age.

01:09The prisoner conditions have prompted federal attention, with Minister Malindiri McCarthy

01:14asking for alternatives to be considered across states and territories.

01:18I am concerned about the high rates of incarceration right across the country, not just in the

01:24Northern Territory.

01:25And certainly I have asked, though, in terms of the Northern Territory, I will be asking

01:29to be able to view the prisons in terms of Alice Springs and Darwin.

01:35I want to go in there.

01:36The prisons crisis is only expected to worsen, with the Northern Territory local courts releasing

01:41new data projecting an increase of over 4,000 criminal and domestic and personal violence

01:46cases this financial year when compared to last.

01:50The NT Minister for Corrections says hygiene checks are conducted daily in watch houses,

01:55although it is the NT government's preference not to house prisoners in police watch houses.

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