NT Youth Justice Class Action

Key Facts

• Respondent(s): Northern Territory of Australia
• Filed: December 2016
• Settled: December 2021
• Settlement Amount: $35 million
• Court: Federal Court of Australia
• Lead Applicants: Dylan Riley Jenkings & Aaron Hyde
• Group Members: Young people held in Northern Territory youth detention centres in Darwin (Don Dale) and Alice Springs, between 1 August 2006 and 27 November 2017, who suffered from officers’ illegal use of too much force, handcuffing, strip-searching and isolation (in the back cells)
• Case Number: NTD64/2016

Background

Aaron and Dylan said that young people in Northern Territory youth detention centres in Darwin (Don Dale) and Alice Springs were treated illegally and badly. They said this included:

• Assault and battery – too much strip searching and handcuffing, being threatened, roughly treated or bashed by officers
• False imprisonment – being held in isolation (in the back cells)

They asked the Court to order the NT Government to pay compensation money to everyone in the class action for this treatment.

Outcome and Settlement

The NT Government agreed to pay $35 million to:

• Pay compensation money to everyone represented in the case
• Cover the costs of running the class action and paying compensation money to all 1,200 people represented in the case

As part of the settlement, an apology from the NT Government was sent in a written notice to everyone in the case for the way they were treated in youth detention.  It acknowledged the failings of the Northern Territory Government in its responsibility to care for, protect and build children in youth detention.  The Northern Territory Chief Minister Michael Gunner was quoted as saying:

“I am sorry for the stories that live in the children we failed. Youth justice is supposed to make our kids better, not break them.”

The Court approved the settlement on 15 December 2021 and said it was fair.

Everyone in the case who registered a claim received compensation money. Each person’s amount depended on:

1. How long they were in youth detention
2. What happened to them in detention
3. How many people registered to claim compensation

Impact and Significance

This class action followed the Royal Commission into the Protection and Detention of Children in the Northern Territory. It helped bring attention to the failings of youth justice in the Northern Territory and gave young people a way to seek compensation for the harm they experienced.

Media and Publications

• NT Youth Justice Class Action Website
• Press release and media links