Two women locked in cell with up to 20 people in ‘disgusting' NT watch house
Two Aboriginal women say they have been locked in a hot, poorly ventilated cell with up to 20 people and a single tap above a toilet for drinking water in 'disgusting' conditions within the Alice Springs watch house.
Police watch houses across the Northern Territory have been repurposed as long-term prison cells as record imprisonment numbers push the system to breaking point.
The women's affidavits, submitted to the Alice Springs local court last month, describe their cells as 'hot, stressful and smelly' with no fresh air and inadequate space for each person to have a mattress. They said they showered every second day, sometimes walking past the men's cells to do so.
'The cell really stinks and is disgusting. You can not get away from the smell,' said Deanna, 30.
'I have not been given bottled water and have to drink the water from above the toilet. The water is warm or hot … There are arguments every day between the women.'
The 'inhumane' conditions inside the watch house are a violation of human rights, alleged Dr John Paterson, the convener of Aboriginal Peak Organisations Northern Territory (Apo nt), an alliance of bodies representing Aboriginal people.
'No one deserves to be deprived of basic healthcare or denied access to clean drinking water,' he said.
'It is unacceptable, discriminatory and harmful, and has no place in the Territory or in Australia.
'Regardless of your political views on justice, we must all draw the line at allowing this degradation of humanity, of health and of culture, to exist within our community.'
Simone, 35, said she had been held in the watch house for more than eight weeks, except for six days spent in hospital because she had back pain and 'doctors were worried about my kidneys'.
After returning to the watch house, she said her lawyer later found some medication with her property that she had not been receiving. She said doctors also told her to use her puffer.
'When using my puffer I am meant to rinse my mouth after every use,' she said.
'I am sometimes not able to do this, as the only source of water provided is a bubbler on top of the toilet and these are shared by up to 20 people between the three cell areas shared by all the women.
'This is disgusting and the sink is often filled with sick and other peoples [sic] saliva. The toilets are blocked and stink.'
Apo nt has called for an urgent meeting with the NT government.
The NT Corrections minister, Gerard Maley, has been contacted for comment.
Last month there were 2,613 people locked up in the NT – more than 1% of the territory's population of 255,100, according to the Department of Corrections.
The NT Chief Minister, Lia Finocchiaro, has previously said the figures showed her government's tough on crime approach was working, but has conceded the rising prisoner numbers were pushing the correctional system to 'breaking point'.
Work is under way to add up to 1,000 beds to the NT prison system by 2028.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mail
7 days ago
- Daily Mail
Lacie, 15, was excited about starting a new school. Three weeks later she was dead. This is her heartbroken dad's message to all parents
The grieving father of a 15-year-old girl who took her own life has spoken out, claiming the school she attended for three weeks before she passed away failed to protect her from bullying. Lacie May Murphy died on March 18 after a struggle with mental illness and bullying at her new school on the Gold Coast after moving from New South Wales in search of a fresh start. Her father, Todd Murphy, 39, said that the school dismissed Lacie's pleas for help and made her feel as though her concerns were 'not important'. Originally from Muswellbrook, Lacie had recently moved to the Gold Coast to live with her father. At first, things seemed to be going well - she even texted her dad to say she loved the school. But by the end of her first week, things changed. Lacie began questioning her dad about the way she was being treated by other students. 'Why are they bullying me - why are they saying this?' she asked him at the time. Lacie reported the bullying to the school, but Mr Murphy said she felt ignored. Mr Murphy said staff asked Lacie whether she wished to change schools but she decided to fight on. 'To Lacie's credit, she came back to me after a week and said, "Dad, I want to... battle through and and finish Year 10 at least. And that was her decision. 'And I said, "That's good, that's what I want." I said," I'll look after the bullying. I'll do what I can. I just ask you go to school and try your hardest".' Mr Murphy also hoped Lacie, who identified as Aboriginal, would connect with the school's First Nations liaison officer - but he said it took weeks for anyone to reach out. Tragically, the phone call finally came on March 18 - the same day he came home to find Lacie had died. 'The liason officer was three weeks too late,' her dad said. 'It is the worst possible fear that any parent could have - that you have to bury your child like that.' Lacie had a history of mental health struggles, including ADHD. Her father said the school made an effort to assist her including by giving her a card she could flash to leave the class when she felt 'overwhelmed or anxious'. But Mr Murphy believes the school should have done more to protect his his daughter in the three weeks she spent there before she died. Now, he's urging schools to take bullying more seriously and for parents to better understand warning signs in their children. 'We did know Lacie was struggling, but ultimately, Lacie didn't have the tools in her toolbox to be able to explain well enough to us what she needed, or all the feelings she had,' Mr Murphy told Daily Mail Australia. 'And, you know, [she] bottled them up, and put on a brave face and a smile and didn't want to confront her own demons that she had. 'This mental health stigma and this bullying... it needs to stop. We need to do something.' Lacie has been remembered as a kind and loving soul with a passion for rugby league. 'She was the epitome of selflessness - she cared about others far more than she cared about herself,' Mr Murphy said. 'In the football team it's the same... she would run the ball to get as far as she could for her teammates, she would always stand up for them and always stand up for her friends but she carried so much of that weight herself. 'You know, she cared too much, she loved too much, she didn't know how to let go... she thought she had to do it all and carry it all.' A spokesperson for the Queensland Department of Education admitted it had do more to ensure safe and inclusive environments were created for all students. 'Our thoughts and sincere sympathies are with the student's family, friends and loved ones during this devastating time. It is a tragedy when a young person's life is cut short,' the spokesperson said. The Queensland Government recently announced a $33million investment to help tackle bullying in schools. The new program includes the establishment of 'Rapid Support Squads' designed to fly into schools in need of extra support, funding for wellbeing staff and the expansion of a hotline to provide guidance to carers. 'The Anti-bullying Stakeholder Reference Group, consisting of experts in the field will inform the department's anti-bullying actions and measures and guide future initiatives to prevent and respond to bullying,' they said. 'Furthermore, all students have access to wellbeing professionals at school, and access to a team of experts providing specialist assistance in student protection, mental health and wellbeing.'
The Guardian
30-04-2025
- The Guardian
The Toomelah nurse: ‘I always try to be optimistic, but jeez, it's bloody hard'
In the tiny community of Toomelah, everyone knows the nurse with the red lipstick. Since she was 16, Ann-Marie Thomas has rarely left home without it. 'I just love red,' she says. 'It cheers me up.' Her signature look makes her easy to spot in the remote town in north-western New South Wales, where she is the only full-time nurse for a population of about 250 Aboriginal people. It's a role that extends well beyond the community's medical needs. On any given day she'll be writing letters to a housing department or arranging food for people who come to the health clinic for help. The Budjiti woman makes a 60km round trip to work each day from her rental home over the Queensland border in Goondiwindi – usually getting back just in time to take her sons to footy training. Thomas dropped out of high school in year 9. She worked as a waitress, washing dishes and peeling potatoes, before she became an Aboriginal health worker and 'fell in love with caring for people'. At 30, she enrolled in university and became a registered nurse – the first person in her family to earn a bachelor's degree. Sign up for the Afternoon Update: Election 2025 email newsletter Now 55, she has spent her career working in rural and remote health, while single-handedly raising three boys, aged 13, 18 and 38. For the last nine years she has worked at Toomelah, a 'magical, spiritual place'. 'I think the people there have helped me heal,' she says. 'They've supported me through some of my darkest times. I think that's why I've stayed there so long.' But she doubts anyone in Canberra even knows the place exists. I work full-time at Toomelah – beloved, beautiful Toomelah. Working in remote communities is a different kind of nursing. You're the receptionist, you're the first responder, you're the person that does all the dressings, takes people in for X-rays and specialist appointments. There's a lot of suffering out there. There's lots of trauma, lots of chronic disease. You don't stay at places like Toomelah for money, because there's no way up the ladder. But I love what I do, and I love those people. It's the most challenging job ever, but the most rewarding job that anyone could ask for. At the beginning, I was taking phone calls and texts on weekends. Then fatigue set in. Now on weekends I try to have one whole day where I'm just doing something for me. I read a lot and I cook. My kids love my homemade chocolate slice. I can cook anything and everything if you give me the recipe. I rent. I've got three sons, but two that live at home. There's no housing available in Goondiwindi. By miracle, we got this [three-bedroom] house. It was $450 a week two years ago and today we pay $490 a week. We struggle to do anything together as a family because of the cost. Our groceries – I reckon they would have gone up at least $70 or $80 a week over about 12 months. I've always had a single income. I don't go out. So the money we have is for electricity, food, rent and a personal loan. By the time you pay all that, you've only got a couple of hundred dollars left. Sign up to Afternoon Update: Election 2025 Our Australian afternoon update breaks down the key election campaign stories of the day, telling you what's happening and why it matters after newsletter promotion I had dreams of travelling, and I had dreams of owning my own home and living near the beach. I can tell you with what my superannuation looks like now, I'm not going to achieve that unless I win the Lotto. I do hope that something happens around the rental situation – because even if we could go on more holidays to where the beaches are, that would be something. I'm really concerned. I don't think my kids will be able to afford to leave home. I even have my eldest son living in Toowoomba and sharing a unit with someone because he can't get his own place – and he'd love his own place because he's got three children. Everywhere you go, people are sleeping in tents. There could be up to 20 people living in a three-bedroom house. We've got people addicted to ice. I don't see it getting any better. I always try to be positive and be optimistic, but jeez, it's bloody hard. I'm so angry with all the politicians. Every time you turn the TV on, the first thing you hear are all these things like 'let's abolish welcome to country'. Why? I don't understand what it's costing. I think it's beautiful. Is it only me that sees the beauty in it because I'm Aboriginal? I don't believe the LNP. And I don't believe that the LNP or Labor have done anything for me as a single mum; for me as a woman living remotely. Personally, all I would ask is some rent support. We seem to take care of doctors, because we've tried to lure doctors into rural areas, but I think we really need to look at Aboriginal staff. But for my people, there's so much that they need to do. Our teenage boys, they are the ones that are most likely to commit suicide. And what have we got for them at Toomelah or Goondi? Nothing. My own son had mental health issues at 16 years of age. We ended up having six different counsellors. I work in the system and I would just cry in frustration. I set my alarm every two hours to get up to see if my son was still alive. [Politicians] have never stepped foot out here. They don't know about people like me or people at Toomelah. But there are 250 people out there and they're Australians – they're First Australians – and they deserve better. I definitely won't vote for Dutton. I never wanted to vote, ever. But it's true – if we don't have a voice, then we don't get a say. So I'll probably vote Labor. I've voted for Labor most of my life, probably because I've been a working mum.
Daily Mail
29-04-2025
- Daily Mail
Young woman burns to death after tragic NDIS bathtub mistake
A regional disability provider has admitted to serious safety breaches after the death of a young Aboriginal woman who was badly burned in a bathtub. Kyah Lucas suffered burns to almost half her body when she was bathed at a home in Orange, in central western NSW, by two workers from NDIS provider LiveBetter in February 2022. Ms Lucas was removed from the bath with her skin peeling, and a temperature control panel showed the water was 60C rather than the usual maximum setting of 42C. The 28-year-old, who had conditions that left her non-verbal and with thin skin, died in a Sydney hospital five days later. LiveBetter was fined a record $1.8 million in the Federal Court in April 2024 after the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission took action against it over multiple failures to comply with its standards of care. On Monday, the care provider pleaded guilty in the NSW District Court to a criminal charge in a separate case brought by SafeWork NSW. It has admitted one count of breaching its primary duty of health and safety regarding Ms Lucas. A charge of failing to immediately notify the workplace regulator of Ms Lucas's injuries was dismissed. The risk to Ms Lucas, whose conditions left her vulnerable to burns, was being bathed in water that was an unsafe temperature, the regulator alleged in documents before the court. The organisation was accused of negligent or reckless conduct through failing to implement safety procedures, like audits of the hot water system or double-checking the temperature with a thermometer. LiveBetter was also accused of failing to develop adequate training for its workers on bathing NDIS clients in line with their needs or how to respond after a burns incident. In February, LiveBetter said in a statement that while it could not comment on the case, it was working with the regulator and other agencies to ensure a safe work environment for staff and clients. "LiveBetter continues to mourn the tragic death of Kyah Lucas ... and our thoughts remain with her grieving family," it said. During the Federal Court case, Justice Elizabeth Raper heard LiveBetter staff looking after Ms Lucas learned "on the job" and that atheir training assessments were limited to an online quiz. "The specific harm suffered by Ms Lucas was of the most acute kind, so too can it be said of the harm to Ms Lucas' family," Justice Raper said in her judgment. "There are no words to properly express the degree of the harm suffered." A sentence hearing in the SafeWork NSW case will be held at a later date before Judge Wendy Strathdee.
