The Northern Territory government has announced an end to the use of spit hoods on young people in police custody, more than five years after they were banned from youth prisons.
Announcing the decision this morning, Police Minister Kate Worden said the change was effective immediately and followed consultation with police.
"Remembering these are children, we remember that we had a royal commission, and we had all of those images of the use of them," Ms Worden told ABC Radio Alice Springs.
"We've done a lot of research around this.
"This hasn't been a quick knee-jerk reaction — we've been working with police around this."
The government asked NT Police to investigate alternatives to spit hoods earlier this year, following renewed outcry over their continued use on children.
From now on, Ms Worden said police officers will instead wear personal protective equipment (PPE) as protection against spitting from children and teenagers in custody.
The ban will not cover adults in police custody.
Ms Worden said police would be adopting a "more contemporary and safe version of the spit hood".
"We need more thought around the way that it's used for adults," she said.
"It's still a very low number, but we've decided that we would like some more information and to work through that."
South Australia became the first state to ban spit hoods in all contexts last year, with their use limited in other states.
Queensland's police commissioner announced an end to their use in watch houses by officers in that state last month.
Government 'actively supporting' police to be spat at, opposition says
Earlier this year, police said spit hoods had been used 27 times on children in police custody since 2018, including on a 12-year-old child.
Paul McCue, president of the Northern Territory Police Association, said the government's announcement was not unexpected.
However, he said police had "very little consultation around what this means for our members, and what the processes will be".
"Being spat at is a vile, disgusting act," Mr McCue told ABC Radio Darwin.
"Now, in the absence of an option for youth, we're yet to see what alternatives will be put in place."
He said the change was a "work, health and safety issue" that would have an immediate effect on police and watch house staff.
Without the option to use spit hoods on young people, Mr McCue said police will have to use "alternate use of force options" to protect themselves.
"Use of force includes striking, take-downs [and] removing that individual to an alternate area until proper safety equipment can be used," he said.
"Those options already exist now so that's nothing new."
Mr McCue also said he was yet to see what a "safe" spit hood looked like for adults.
"We're very keen to see what the alternate option is that they've landed on, but I'm not sure that's been decided yet," he said.
In a statement, Northern Territory opposition leader Lia Finocchiaro said today was a "dark day for our police, and another win for the lobby groups and criminals".
"The Fyles government is actively supporting the police to be spat at," the statement said.
“This means our government expect police to carry out their duties in a full face mask dripping with potentially diseased phlegm and saliva, rather than have the spitter stop spitting."
In the short statement announcing the change this morning, the NT government highlighted the tougher penalties "for the disgusting act of spitting on frontline workers" that it passed through parliament last month.
The numbers of young people heading into youth detention in the NT has more than doubled since controversial bail laws were passed last year, which Labor said would increase the number of children detained on remand.
A 500 per cent increase in self-harm incidents was reported by the Territory Families department in June.
