Two detainees escaped from the Don Dale detention centre in Darwin on Wednesday, after they were moved inside due to an approaching electrical storm.
Northern Territory police are searching for the two 17-year-old boys, named as Josiah Binsaris and Trey Mawson.
It is understood detainees were outside their rooms in recreation areas of the facility, with some taking part in late afternoon activities. But an oncoming electrical storm prompted a decision to move people inside.
At about 6pm, after they were returned to their accommodation area, Binsaris and Mawson escaped, the Department of Territory Families said.
Northern Territory police have contacted the families and friends of the boys, and have told members of the public not to approach them. At least one of the youths has escaped from custody previously.
The escapes are the latest in a long run of juveniles and adults absconding from NT custody. Late last month a Don Dale detainee was caught after escaping overnight, and was injured during the incident. Two others who attempted escape at the same time were unsuccessful.
A week earlier the royal commission heard evidence from a corrections staff member, Derek Tasker, about a teenage boy who was bitten by a police dog and hospitalised when he was apprehended following an escape from the Alice Springs juvenile facility.
There had been more than 20 escapes from that juvenile detention centre alone, “and the fence line was totally inadequate”, Tasker said, urging the royal commission to prompt the government to take action. “They shouldn’t have escaped and I accept that but the centre should be secure so these kids are not in that position. It’s not just a one-off thing.”
Last week the interim report of the royal commission into juvenile detention was delivered, and labeled it a “failing” system which was “likely to leave many children and young people more damaged than when they entered”.
The report said there was “no doubt” the Don Dale facility was inappropriate for holding children, but it advised the NT government not to begin its plans to build a new facility until after the final report was delivered in August.
The NT government has embarked on an $18m juvenile justice reform package, including upgrades to Don Dale, but has held off making substantive changes until it has the royal commission’s recommendations. It is expected there will be a push towards non-custodial options, in an effort to break the cycle of recidivism.
The Don Dale juvenile detention centre is housed in what used to be the Berrimah jail for adults.
Adults were moved to the controversial new prison in 2014, which was built at a cost of $1.8bn and ignored recommendations to include a 75-bed juvenile section.
The former corrections commissioner, Ken Middlebrook, had previously described Berrimah as only fit for a bulldozer, and the government has acknowledged it is unsuitable for children compared to the purpose-built former Don Dale, which was shut following an increase in detainees and violent incidents.
