Youth justice advocates warn Northern Territory is ‘winning race to the bottom' ahead of more reforms
WARNING: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised that this article contains the name and image of an Indigenous person who has died, used with the permission of their family.
NT Coroner Elisabeth Armitage on Monday handed down her long-awaited findings into the death of the Yuendumu teenager, who was fatally shot during an attempted arrest in November 2019.
She made findings about Mr Walker's upbringing in remote central Australia — plagued by poverty and health issues — and his struggle to cope at school due to his disabilities, as well as periods of time spent in the criminal justice system.
In the almost three years since the high-profile inquest began, the landscape of the Northern Territory's justice system has undergone significant changes.
The age of criminal responsibility has been lowered from 12 back to 10, and a raft of bail reforms have been implemented.
And when parliament resumes at the end of this month, the NT's Country Liberal Party (CLP) government is expected to introduce further changes to the Youth Justice Act — many of which have not yet been announced.
The coroner's 680-page report is now being examined closely by those in the youth justice space in the hopes the report will signal to the NT government the need for a change in direction.
The coroner's report canvassed Kumanjayi Walker's early life, which was marred by repeated exposure to domestic violence, substance abuse and neglect.
Judge Armitage said Mr Walker was first charged with criminal offending at just 13 years old, marking the beginning of years in and out of custody.
By age 16, he had been arrested for domestic assaults on his teenage partner and was battling addiction.
NT Children's Commissioner Shahleena Musk said Mr Walker's story reflected the experiences of many children caught in the justice system.
"Many of them are in care or are well-known to the child protection system, many of them present with unmet disability, mental health and trauma needs," she said.
While the coroner acknowledged it was beyond the scope of the inquest to make recommendations directed at implementing change in youth detention centres, she noted: "It seems reasonably clear that detention neither deterred nor rehabilitated Kumanjayi".
Northern Australia Aboriginal Justice Agency chief executive Anthony Bevan said the coroner's findings sent a clear message.
"We've clearly seen from this inquest that deterrence and rehabilitation doesn't work in prison, doesn't work in custody," he said.
National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Services general manager Melissa Clarke said an emphasis on punitive measures for young offenders was a growing trend across Australia.
She said in the territory, lowering the age of criminal responsibility, tougher bail laws and overcrowded prisons were particular concerns.
Ms Clarke said recent changes to bail in the NT and New South Wales, as well as Queensland's recent "adult time for adult crime" reforms, flew in the face of recommendations from previous inquiries and the Royal Commission into the Protection and Detention of Children in the Northern Territory.
"Prisons are outrageously full, violating international law, and yet we have politicians doubling down," she said.
Mr Bevan said tougher bail measures had led to a steep increase in the number of young people remanded in custody in the NT.
"With the bail changes that came in, in April [2025], we've seen more than a doubling of the number of young people being held in custody," Mr Bevan said.
Between periods in custody, Mr Walker had access to several rehabilitation and diversion programs including at the primary youth service in Yuendumu, the Warlpiri Youth Development Aboriginal Corporation (WYDAC), which was defunded in 2022 — something the coroner described as "particularly dispiriting".
Among her 32 formal recommendations, the coroner called for the "review and expansion of services targeting engagement with young offenders, young people with disability, children who have dropped out of school, with a view to reducing offending behaviour".
Another recommendation was for more rehabilitation and diversion services for at-risk young people in remote communities.
The NT children's commissioner and heads of Aboriginal legal services said they hoped the report would signal to the NT government the need for a change in approach.
"There's clearly a belief that they've got a mandate to be tougher on these young people, but the evidence goes against that," Ms Musk said.
In a statement, an NT government spokesperson said the CLP had been "focused on reducing crime and restoring community safety".
The spokesperson also pointed to the government's 2025-26 infrastructure budget which "includes support for youth diversion and homelessness services".
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