Surge in NT youths in custody under CLP government, FOI data reveals

An investigation has revealed a sharp rise in the number of children and teenagers taken into custody in the Northern Territory during the first year of the Country Liberal Party (CLP) government's term. Internal police data, obtained through a Freedom of Information request, shows 503 youths were held in NT watch houses between March and September 2025.

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since the CLP's election, police had "operated within a changing legislative environment, including reforms that have strengthened the tools available to police when responding to youth offending".

Alarmingly, more than 90 percent of these youths were Indigenous. The figures also indicate a substantial increase in custody incidents compared to the preceding six months, with 934 youth custody incidents recorded during the reporting period, up from 870 incidents involving 402 youths between August 2024 and March 2025.

NT Police acknowledged the increase, citing a "changing legislative environment" that has strengthened police tools for responding to youth offending. Key among these changes are the lowering of the age of criminal responsibility from 12 to 10 in October 2024 and the implementation of tougher youth bail laws. Police stated these legislative changes likely contributed to the rise in recorded youth custody episodes.

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These legislative changes may have contributed to the increase in youth custody episodes recorded during the second reporting period [March to September 2025] and are important context when comparing the two datasets.

However, the data also contains potential inaccuracies. NT Police noted that records detailing the duration youths spent in watch houses could be erroneous due to manual data entry and "should not be relied upon." The lack of public access to historical data, except through lengthy FOI processes, prevents a comprehensive assessment of long-term trends. The spike in youth incarceration mirrors a similar increase in adult incarceration rates during the CLP's first year, which campaigned on a platform of cracking down on crime.

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These records are subject to manual data entry and, in some instances, m