'It would be a scandal': NT government accused of hiding youth prison from UN

The United Nations has been blocked from inspecting the Northern Territory's children's prison in a move that has been condemned by human rights lawyers, who say the refusal raises questions about what the NT government is hiding.

UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Albert Barume had planned to visit Darwin's Holtze Youth Detention Centre and Queensland's Cleveland Youth Detention Centre during a visit to Australia this month.

But in a statement late last week, Mr Barume said both governments had refused to meet with him or allow him to access the facilities.

The refusal is the second time in almost a year that the NT's Country Liberal Party government has locked the UN out of its jails.

Darwin barrister John Lawrence SC, who has worked in the NT for almost four decades, said he had no doubt the NT government had "a lot to hide".

"I think if a rapporteur was able to examine the conditions and report to the community, it could lead to all kinds of embarrassments and inconveniences for the government, including civil suits,"

he said.

"It would be a scandal."

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children make up almost all of the youth detention population in the NT on any given day. 

In January, the ABC reported that multiple incidents were recorded at the Holtze Youth Detention Centre in the 12 months after it opened in November 2024, including nine young people hospitalised for self-harm and two who were sexually assaulted. 

There were also 127 detainee-on-detainee assaults, multiple escapes and a hunger strike, and the 2024-25 NT children commissioner's annual report detailed extended lockdowns and inappropriate use of force.

"The prospects of abuse and so forth in Holtze Youth Detention Centre are very large and urgently require scrutiny," Mr Lawrence said.

The Department of Corrections confirmed a visit was not being facilitated, insisting the NT's prisons were already "subject to established independent oversight and accountability arrangements". 

But Human Rights Law Centre senior lawyer Sohini Mehta said that was not good enough.

"Why not open the doors and facilitate access if there is nothing to hide?"

she said.

"The international human rights system and independent scrutiny exists, because we don't take governments at their word."

Ms Mehta said First Nations people, who are vastly over-represented in custody, were being subjected to "cruel, inhumane and degrading practices like solitary confinement and stripsearching".

"Children as young as 10 are incarcerated [at Holtze]," she said.

"We know that spit hoods, which have contributed to preventable deaths in custody, have been reintroduced by the current government.

"What it says is that [the government is] trying to shun scrutiny of the practices that we know are not compliant with Australia's binding international human rights obligations."

Last December, United Nations inspectors, who were also blocked from NT jails, were scathing in their assessment of Australia's treatment of prisoners following their visit. 

Amnesty International Australia Indigenous rights advisor Rodney Dillon said his organisation had also documented treatment that "falls well below international human rights standards".

The NT Labor opposition also condemned the move to deny the UN access to Holtze, but would not commit to allowing a visit if it was returned to power.

While the Human Rights Law Centre said the federal government should be using all levers available, including withholding funding, to ensure the Territory provided access, a spokesperson for Attorney-General Michelle Rowland said the decision to participate or not was up to each state and territory. 

"The decision does not reflect the position of the Albanese government, and we encourage all jurisdictions to engage constructively with the Special Rapporteur," the spokesperson said. 

Mr Barume said he planned to visit Canberra, Adelaide, Broome, Darwin, the Torres Strait Islands, Townsville and Sydney.