The royal commission into the protection and detention of children in the Northern Territory could expand to encompass the rest of Australia without delaying its current plan, the Greens say.
Following further revelations about alleged mistreatment of juvenile detainees, Greens senator Rachel Siewert has written to prime minister Malcolm Turnbull, calling for an expansion of the terms of reference and suggesting a “two-tiered” inquiry. Under the Greens’ proposal the royal commission would still report on the Northern Territory within the current, six-month time frame and then go on to consider the national picture.
The royal commission, announced in July after an ABC broadcast of detainee mistreatment in NT juvenile facilities, held its first hearing on Tuesday. It is expected public hearings will run from mid-October to December, to report by the end of March.
However there have been repeated calls for the inquiry’s scope to be expanded across Australia, particularly since further revelations about alleged mistreatment in facilities in Queensland, Tasmania, Western Australia, and New South Wales.
In the days after the Four Corners broadcast, more than 100 Indigenous and justice organisations called for a national inquiry.
Turnbull has said he would not want the commission to stretch out “for years and years”, and it was important to focus on the NT issues.
Siewert wrote to Turnbull last week suggesting the split-model of inquiry: “We have been repeatedly told that abuse in detention is not isolated to the Northern Territory, investigation should not stop at the Territory border because broadening the investigation seems like too big of a task,” she wrote.
She said she understood the prime minister’s concern but said there were ways of addressing it.
“The royal commission could be two-tiered, and could focus on and report first on the Northern Territory and Don Dale, and the second part could investigate youth detention across the country,” Seiwert said.
“This approach will ensure that the NT gets the urgent attention it needs, whilst still ensuring a national investigation.”
In his opening address on Tuesday, commissioner Mick Gooda noted the recent revelations from other jurisdictions but said his and co-commissioner Margaret White’s terms of reference were confined to the Northern Territory.
“I understand that there have been many calls from Australians in other jurisdictions to have the scope of the royal commission widened, but would like to state we are guided and limited by our terms of reference,” he said.
Before being appointed to the royal commission, Gooda had supported calls for an expansion.
“I think you’ve got to look at why there are so many of our kids in detention. The Northern Territory is worse, but they’re by no means alone in that,” he said in July.
“We keep on saying imprisonment is a last option, [but] we must have a lot of kids in those systems right throughout Australia who are there for minor offences.”
While the two-tier model would allow the inquiry to remain at just six months duration, there have also been concerns that it is not long enough. The commission has divided opinion, and there is some concern it will struggle to meet targets given the logistical challenges of meeting in remote communities during the wet season.
