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5 Shocking Truths About Don Dale: The Australian Detention Centre At The Center Of A $35 Million Scandal

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The name "Don Dale" has become globally synonymous with systemic abuse and a crisis in youth justice, far removed from any local business. As of late 2025, the notorious facility in the Northern Territory, Australia, remains a focal point of controversy, with new reports of mistreatment continuing to surface years after the damning Royal Commission exposed its horrific conditions. The ongoing saga involves a multi-million dollar class action payout, failed reforms, and shocking incidents of isolation, revealing a deep-seated failure in the protection of vulnerable children, particularly young Aboriginal people, within the system.

The facility, officially the Don Dale Youth Detention Centre, is the epicenter of a national reckoning over child protection and detention practices. Its history is marked by the use of tear gas, spit hoods, and prolonged isolation, which led to a landmark Royal Commission and a subsequent $35 million settlement for former detainees. Despite widespread condemnation and calls for its immediate closure, the Northern Territory government continues to grapple with the facility's legacy and the implementation of crucial reforms, with recent events in 2024 and 2025 highlighting that the crisis is far from over.

The Royal Commission's Damning Verdict and Failed Closures

The catalyst for national outrage was the 2016 footage aired on ABC’s *Four Corners*, which showed the mistreatment of children, including the use of tear gas and the shackling of a boy to a chair. This led directly to the formation of the Royal Commission into the Protection and Detention of Children in the Northern Territory.

The Royal Commission's final report delivered a staggering 227 Recommendations aimed at fundamentally reforming the entire youth justice and child protection system. Among the most critical recommendations was the immediate closure of both the Don Dale Youth Detention Centre and the Alice Springs Youth Detention Centre, which the commission deemed "unsuitable for children, outdated, and ill-equipped."

  • Government Response: The Territory Labor Government allocated $70 million to replace both the Don Dale and Alice Springs facilities. However, the closure has been repeatedly delayed, and the current facility remains operational.
  • The High Security Unit: One specific recommendation was the immediate closure of the High Security Unit at Don Dale, a place infamous for its harsh conditions.
  • The Berrimah Site: The facility is situated on the site of the former Berrimah Prison, a location critics argue is fundamentally unsuitable for the rehabilitation of young people.

Human rights groups, including Amnesty International and Change the Record, have consistently condemned the government's actions, arguing that recent NT youth justice laws reform and new bail reforms have actually caused the number of children in the dangerous facility to skyrocket, directly contradicting the commission's intent to keep children out of prison.

Shocking 2024 Incidents: Isolation, Food Denial, and Unlawful Practices

Despite the international scrutiny and the Royal Commission's findings, the facility continues to be plagued by reports of practices that breach human rights standards, with incidents as recent as April 2024 drawing renewed condemnation.

In a deeply concerning case, an investigation by the NT Children's Commissioner examined an incident from April 2024 where a young detainee was allegedly isolated for an excessive period. The young Aboriginal person was reportedly kept in isolation for 12 hours longer than permitted under NT youth justice laws because they refused to comply with staff.

Further reports indicate that during this period of isolation, staff allegedly withheld food and refused medication as leverage to force compliance. The Children's Commissioner stated that this conduct breached the Territory's youth justice laws, labeling the practices as "unlawful torture via starvation" that violate Australia's human rights obligations.

These incidents underscore a fundamental failure to implement the spirit of the Royal Commission's recommendations, showing that the culture of mistreatment and punitive measures, including the use of solitary confinement and excessive force, persists. Critics argue that the new youth justice laws introduced by the NT government risk a return to the "dark days of old Don Dale."

The $35 Million Class Action Settlement: A Measure of Justice

A significant development in the Don Dale saga was the approval of a landmark $35 million class action settlement for former detainees. This settlement, finalized with the Northern Territory government, represents one of the largest payouts in Australian history for a youth detention matter.

Who Was Covered by the Settlement?

The class action lawsuit, led by law firm Maurice Blackburn, covered any young person who was mistreated while detained in a Northern Territory youth detention center between August 2006 and November 2017. This included both the Don Dale and Alice Springs facilities.

  • The Payout: The $35 million AUD settlement was approved with no objections from the group members.
  • Support Services: A reserve was set aside within the settlement fund to provide essential financial counselling services for the class members, recognizing the long-term trauma they had endured.
  • Harrowing Experiences: Former inmates shared harrowing experiences in court, detailing the use of spit hoods, excessive force, and being subjected to conditions that were condemned by the Royal Commission.

While the financial compensation provides a measure of justice and recognition for the suffering of nearly 1,200 former detainees, advocates stress that no amount of money can truly compensate for the trauma inflicted. The settlement serves as a stark reminder of the systemic failures in the child protection and youth justice systems, particularly the disproportionate detention of Aboriginal children, who are vastly overrepresented in the facility's population. The ongoing push by groups like "Close Don Dale Now" continues to demand the urgent and final closure of the facility and a complete overhaul of the NT youth justice laws to prioritize rehabilitation and community-led solutions over punitive detention.

5 Shocking Truths About Don Dale: The Australian Detention Centre at the Center of a $35 Million Scandal
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