Youth Justice and Criminal Code Amendment Bill 2026
The NT Government passed the Youth Justice and Criminal Code Amendment Bill 2026 in July.
The Bill aims to strengthen community safety and improve protections for frontline staff.
Supporting early intervention and public safety
The Bill introduces new protected interview provisions, allowing police to speak with young people about offending, diversion opportunities or information relevant to an offence.
Any information a young person gives during these interviews cannot be used against them in criminal or civil proceedings.
Safeguards include access to legal advice, support people and the right to silence.
The Bill also creates an urgent protected interview process. This allows police to get information from a young person about serious and urgent public safety matters while maintaining appropriate protections.
Strengthening youth justice operations
The Bill establishes intake and transfer facilities to provide a safe and secure location for young people waiting to be transferred to a detention centre.
It sets out the purpose, governance and operational arrangements for these facilities.
The Bill also clarifies arrangements for transporting and managing detainees, including:
- transfers
- escorts
- searches
- maintaining lawful custody.
Strengthening protections for corrections workers
The Criminal Code Act 1983 will be amended to recognise corrections workers as a protected worker category under assault offences.
Assaults on corrections workers while doing their official duties will be treated consistently with assaults on police officers and emergency workers.
These protections will apply to a range of frontline staff working in correction and youth detention environments.
This recognises the important public safety role staff perform and the risks they manage while maintaining lawful custody and responding to incidents.
More information
For more information, read the Youth Justice Act 2005.