The Territory Labor Government has chosen a site for the new Darwin Youth Justice Centre. 

Seven sites were considered for the development of the new $60 million facility that will replace the existing Don Dale Youth Detention Centre and create more than 300 local jobs during construction.  

Following a thorough assessment process, the Territory Government has chosen a greenfield site at Holtze. The site is located on nearly 15 hectares of vacant Crown Land that has been rezoned to Community Purpose, which will allow the project to commence. 

The site best meets the criteria to develop a new Youth Justice Centre that will ensure young people who do the wrong things face the consequences of their actions because all Territorians deserve to be safe.  

The site chosen is a discreet, non-residential location surrounded by dense vegetation, which is suitable for the new Youth Justice Centre for these reasons:  

• Proximity to professional services including police, emergency services and health services

• Land tenure and ownership – currently vacant Crown Land 

• Land size and accessibility – is a large site that is easily accessible for staff, visitors and service providers 

• Existing usage and zoning – the site has been rezoned to Community Purpose and the surrounding area is free from urban settlement 

• Highly vegetated site with the potential to provide environmental barriers and buffer zones

• Service availability (i.e. power and water)

The seven sites that were considered include: 

• A greenfield site at Holtze (chosen) 

• An area within the Darwin Correctional Centre site 

• The former Gunn Point Prison farm site 

• A site at Gunn Point Murrumujuk 

• A site in Batchelor near the Batchelor Institute 

• The former Wickham Point Immigration Detention Centre Facility

• The southern portion of the current Don Dale Youth Detention Centre site in Berrimah

Replacing the existing Don Dale Youth Detention Centre with a new purpose-built Youth Justice Centre is a key recommendation from the Royal Commission into the Protection and Detention of Children in the NT.

There will be a number of pop-up shops set-up across the Greater Darwin area where the community can seek information about the site identification and assessment process. The Back on Track: Cutting Youth Crime plan will also be featured. For more information visit www.youthjustice.nt.gov.au 

Quotes from Minister for Territory Families, Dale Wakefield 

“Young people who do the wrong things must face the consequences of their actions, and youth detention is one of those consequences.  But we also need to ensure that time spent in detention can be used effectively to get young people back on the right path.          

“Our plan to cut crime also includes preventing crime before it happens, this includes new programs under our Back on Track program, which ensures that young people do who the wrong things face tough consequences and the impact of their offending.”

Media contact: Paige Nguyen 0428 727 244
paige.nguyen@nt.gov.au