Australia Lawyers for Human Rights (ALHR) condemns the Northern Territory Government's announcement this week that it is reinstating the use of spit hoods in youth detention, eight years after the practice was banned. This decision undermines Australia's international obligations under core United Nations human rights treaties, including the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) and the Convention Against Torture (CAT).
ALHR's Vice President and Chair of Children's Rights, Kerry Weste said:
The use of spit hoods violates children's internationally recognised human rights and will further compound trauma for children in prison in the Northern Territory. Given the territory recently re-lowered the age of criminal responsibility to just 10 years of age and given almost one hundred percent of children in NT prisons are Aboriginal, this move is particularly alarming.
There is no safe use of spit hoods. It is not safe to place a restrictive device over a child's head. Spit hoods have been implicated in the deaths of First Nations peoples. Their use can pose a risk of suffocation and can never be justified when safe PPE alternatives are readily available.
All children have an internationally recognised right to be treated humanely when deprived of their liberty and to be free from torture, cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment. In its 2019 Concluding Observations, the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child called on Australia to explicitly prohibit the use of physical restraints, as a means of coercion or to discipline children in detention. The UN Subcommittee on the prevention of torture (SPT) has recommended a complete ban on spit hoods in all Australian jurisdictions, noting their use is inhuman and degrading treatment. The UN Special Rapporteur on Torture has raised concerns that spit hoods may contribute to asphyxiation and serious trauma, particularly for vulnerable individuals such as children. The United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Administration of Juvenile Justice (the Beijing Rules) affirm that children must be treated in a manner consistent with the promotion of their sense of dignity and worth.
The 2017 Report of the Royal Commission and Board of Inquiry into the Protection and Detention of Children in the Northern Territory recommended spit hoods and restraint chairs be banned.
ALHR stands with organisations like Change the Record and recalls the work of the late Sophie Trevitt who was dedicated to highlighting the disproportionate human rights impacts and harms done to First Nations children as a result of the use of spit hoods.
ALHR joins the National Children's Commissioners and many other civil society voices in imploring all governments across Australia to introduce a legislative ban on the use of spit hoods on children in all places of detention.
We also call on the NT Government to reverse its decision to re-lower the age of criminal responsibility and to instead follow the ACT's lead and raise the age of criminal responsibility to at least 14 years.
The Bail and Youth Justice Legislation Amendment Bill 2025 (NT) highlights the urgent need for all jurisdictions to incorporate Australia's international human rights obligations toward children into their domestic laws.
We call on the federal government to show leadership by fully embedding the CRC and CAT in law in a national Human Rights Act, implementing Australia's OPCAT obligations, and appointing a national cabinet minister for children.
While counties like Scotland have comprehensively incorporated the CRC into law and now have no children under 18 years of age in prison or young offender institutions, in most of Australia children have little to no legal protection of their fundamental human rights and can be jailed at just 10 years old.
ALHR's Spokesperson on Criminal Justice and Human Rights, Dr Katherine Fallah, said:
The use of spit hoods is degrading, inhumane and dangerous. It is contrary to Australia's international legal obligations and counter to the weight of expert opinion on management of challenging behaviours in custodial settings. The NT should be moving in the right direction, towards a formal prohibition on the use of spit hoods, rather than disregarding the lessons from Don Dale.
About us:
ALHR was established in 1993 and is a national association of Australian solicitors, barristers, academics, judicial officers and law students who practise and promote international human rights law in Australia. ALHR has active and engaged National, State and Territory committees and specialist thematic committees. Through advocacy, media engagement, education, networking, research and training, ALHR promotes, practices and protects universally accepted standards of human rights throughout Australia and overseas.
