NT Government under pressure to address facilities for teenage prisoners in Darwin

Jan 10, 2015, 03:48 AM

ABC PM - SAMANTHA DONOVAN: The Northern Territory Government is being pressured to address serious concerns about the treatment of teenage prisoners in Darwin.

Defence lawyers, youth workers and Amnesty International are angry that underage prisoners have been moved into an old, adult prison. They say the facility is dilapidated and under resourced.

Bridget Brennan reports.

BRIDGET BRENNAN: Darwin's new $500 million prison opened last year. But there was no new facility built for children in jail in Darwin.

The former youth detention centre, Don Dale, was deemed unfit after five teenagers escaped last August.

Youth prisoners are now in Berrimah prison, a 20-year-old facility that was used to incarcerate adults.