Violent assaults, self-harm incidents, use of 'chemical agents' occurring at Darwin prison, FOI documents show

Australia Broadcast Center

11-05-2025

Violent assaults and incidents of self-harm are occurring regularly inside Darwin's overcrowded prison, with government documents also revealing the use of "chemical agents" by officers.
Warning: This story contains details of self-harm.
Executive incident reports from the Darwin Correctional Centre (DCC), the Northern Territory's largest prison, have been released to the ABC in response to a Freedom of Information (FOI) request.
They detail events over a 24-day period, between January 10 and February 3 this year, across both the men's and women's sections of the facility.
The reports show that prisoners assaulted or attempted to assault other inmates and correctional officers 11 times during that period, often resulting in injuries and medical treatment.
One report from January stated a prisoner was placed "at risk" after they told a nurse they were going to kill their cellmate.
It said officers had earlier used "chemical agents" to break up a fight between the incarcerated pair, after they had taken "a disliking to one another".
Another January report said oxygen was administered to a prisoner after they were found "wailing" and struggling to breath.
It was later discovered the prisoner had been assaulted by multiple other inmates.
"[The victim] didn't clean up so we hit [them]," one of the perpetrators said during an investigation into the incident.
The reports also detailed three incidents of self-harm by prisoners, including through asphyxiation.
The insights into life inside the DCC comes as the prison is overflowing with inmates.
More than 1 per cent of the Northern Territory's population is currently locked up, with prisoner numbers having risen by more than 500 since the Country Liberal Party government was elected in August.
As of Tuesday, there were 2,822 people incarcerated across the Northern Territory.
Corrections Commissioner Matthew Varley has said he expects the prison population to reach 3,000 "in the not-too-distant future", following the government legislating "Australia's toughest bail laws" last month.
Amid the prisoner population increase, rehabilitation services have either stopped or been disrupted.
Erina Early, secretary of the United Workers Union NT, which represents prison officers, said it was "chaos" inside the DCC, leading guards to question their futures in their roles.
"I'm very concerned about the wellbeing of my correctional officers at the moment," she said.
"I'm dealing with four or five at-risk calls a month from officers who are upset they can't go on.
Over the past 12 months, 59 correctional officers have quit their jobs while 157 have been recruited.
The ABC's FOI request only picked up some of the incidents at the DCC this year.
Last Tuesday, a correctional officer was hospitalised after he was allegedly assaulted by a prisoner, with the incident referred to NT police.
Ms Early said two prisoners had also recently spent time in hospital after allegedly being assaulted by other inmates.
"We've had a prisoner put boiling hot water in the microwave, so it was really, really hot, and then they scalded another prisoner," she said.
"We're aware of another incident where a female prisoner, I believe she was about 120 kilograms, actually put her body weight and foot on another female prisoner, and basically that prisoner couldn't breathe."
Overcrowding at the prison was leading to more serious incidents, Ms Early said.
"As soon as you bring more and more prisoners in and you don't have the infrastructure to accommodate them, there's always that high risk of more assaults on prisoners and also officers as well," she said.
"They're rammed into a little cell as well. Depending on if they've got enough officers on that day, some prisoners don't leave the cell, they get locked up.
A spokesperson for the Department of Corrections said it acknowledged "that overcrowding can cause difficulties".
"Corrections is making careful and necessary decisions to maintain the order and safety of the community, our staff, and people in our supervision," they said.
"Staff wellbeing remains a priority and is supported through workplace initiatives to improve engagement, upskilling and leadership.
"Corrections is continuing to build its workforce through ongoing recruitment to boost our staffing compliment."