Malcolm Turnbull Announces Royal Commission Into Juvenile Detention After Shocking Footage Emerges

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has announced he will establish a royal commission into Northern Territory juvenile detention.

Update: John Elferink has been removed by NT Chief Minister Adam Giles from the role of NT Corrections Minister as a result of the report. He remains Attorney-General and Minister for Children and Families in the state. The original story follows.

The call came after ABC’s Four Corners shared disturbing footage of young men being assaulted and abused at the Don Dale Youth Detention Centre in Darwin.

"Like all Australians, I have been deeply shocked; shocked and appalled by the images of mistreatment at the Don Dale Centre," he said.

Turnbull’s announcement came after NT Chief Minister Adam Giles revealed his support for a royal commission in a statement. The royal commission will be held in conjunction with the NT Government.

Human Rights Commissioner Gillian Triggs called for an independent inquiry on Q&A last night.

"If one of us were to have been found to have treated our children in this way we would probably be charged with a criminal offence and the children would be taken away from us,” she said.

"It's an extremely distressing piece of footage to look at and I have visited many detention centres, sadly. I have never seen conditions of that kind and I have never seen people treated in that way."

Labor’s Tanya Plibersek (as Acting Leader of the Opposition), Shadow Minister for National Security Mark Dreyfus, Shadow Assistant Minister for Indigenous Affairs and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders Patrick Dodson and Shadow Assistant Minister for Northern Australia Warren Snowdon released a joint statement in support of a royal commission.

Four Corners’ expose showed vision of six boys being tear-gassed during August of 2014. Initially, the incident was described as a riot, but newly-released footage showed only one boy escaped his cell after it had been left unlocked. All six boys – five of whom remained locked in their cells – were exposed to the tear gas.

The program also included video of one boy, 17-year-old Dylan Voller, strapped to a mechanical restraint chair with a hood over his head. He was left in that position for two hours, as alleged punishment for chewing on his mattress and threatening to break his hand.

Voller, now 18, is being held at Darwin’s adult prison, having been in and out of juvenile detention since the age of 10.

His sister, Kira, told ABC radio this morning that she holds the guards responsible for his repeated incarceration.

“These people are already full-grown adults and made the decision to harm that child while they were working,” she said.

“The government gave them that responsibility, to care for these kids, and instead they abused that role.

“He’s lost hope; the last time I went to visit him there was no smile, there was no emotion, there was nothing, I couldn’t give him anything to be positive about and that really broke me.”

She is also calling on the law permitting use of mechanical restraints to be overturned.

In Parliament earlier this year, NT Corrections Minister John Elferink said such restraints were necessary for staff security.

A royal commission will determine whether or not charges need to be laid against those involved.

Photo: ABC.