The Northern Territory government is resisting calls to ban the use of spit hoods on children in police custody after new data showed their use had increased during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Data provided by NT Police this week revealed spit hoods had been used 27 times on children in police custody since 2018, and chair restraints six times.
The youngest child was 12 years old.
Both devices were banned in youth detention centres following an ABC Four Corners report that aired shocking footage of their use in Darwin's Don Dale youth detention centre.
The royal commission that followed recommended spit hoods and restraint chairs remain prohibited in youth detention centres but did not make recommendations about their use by police.
But David Woodroffe, principal legal officer at the North Australian Aboriginal Justice Agency, said it beggars belief the devices were being used on children in any type of custody.
"Inhumane practices are never acceptable, and they're never acceptable in the Northern Territory," he said.
Use of spit hoods increased as COVID-19 spread
Of the 27 times spit hoods were used on children over the past four years, 16 of those incidents occurred in 2020.
That year, they were used 11 times in the Palmerston watch house, three times in Alice Springs and twice in Tennant Creek.
NT Police Minister Nicole Manison said the risk of staff catching COVID-19 in Territory watch houses had strengthened the rationale for using spit hoods as a matter of workplace safety.
"Acts of violence against police are unacceptable – especially spitting at them during a pandemic," she said in a statement.
Ms Manison said her department had asked police to advise if there were any alternative practices to keep officers safe that do not involve spit hoods.
In a statement, a spokesperson for NT Police said emergency restraint chairs were only used in police custody as a last resort when the person was demonstrating behaviour likely to cause self-harm.
A spokesperson also said spit hoods were only used on a person in custody who had or was threatening to spit at officers or others in custody.
Territory Families Minister Kate Worden did not answer questions about whether she supported the use of spit hoods on children in police custody.
But she said her government had "worked hard" to reform its youth justice system and had implemented 158 of the royal commission's 227 recommendations, with another 57 underway.
Ms Worden said officers within NT detention centres received training in therapeutic skills, including negotiation techniques, restorative practices and trauma informed care.
Advocates call for alternative measures
Mr Woodroffe said alternative options were needed.
"Hospitals and other treatment facilities are the best place for children who are self-harming — not by the use of spit hoods and restraint chairs," he said.
Sarah Holder, senior manager at the NT Council of Social Service (NTCOSS), said police could use alternative measures of protection against diseases from children in custody.
"In other jurisdictions, they use PPE for police officers and other people to protect them against biological contaminants," she told ABC Radio Alice Springs on Tuesday.
"It's our understanding, based on evidence from some of our members [with] medical expertise, that PPE is entirely suitable for protecting police officers."
Last year, South Australia became the first jurisdiction in Australia to ban spit hoods, five years after 29-year-old Wayne Fella Morrison died in 2016 following restraint in a spit hood.
Mr Morrison's sister, Latoya Aroha Rule, is behind an ongoing push for all states and territories to ban spit hoods in all settings.
"Amnesty have found that spit hoods violate the UN Convention Against Torture, yet their use continues on children, especially in the NT today," she said in a statement.
Police union and CLP back the use of spit hoods
NT Police Association (NTPA) senior vice-president Lisa Bayliss said the union supported the continued use of both spit hoods and restraint chairs on children in Territory watch houses.
"Obviously, there's strict policy and procedure around their use, but they're a necessary part of the toolkit that police require in the watch house," she told ABC Radio Darwin this morning.
"It's not just the spit — sometimes people have blood in their mouth as well.
"There's a potential for all sorts of diseases to be transmitted, [such as] hepatitis, HIV, and it's a very difficult time for that police officer when they're waiting for those blood test results."
Ms Bayliss pointed to a "horrendous" case in South Australia in which an officer contracted herpes after being spat in the face.
Ms Bayliss said she had no evidence that a similar incident had occurred in the NT.
Opposition Leader Lia Finocchiaro said the Country Liberal Party supported the highly regulated use of spit hoods by NT police.
"Northern Territory police perform a very difficult job in extremely confronting circumstances and deserve to be protected from communicable diseases, which can have a long-lasting impact on their health," she said in a statement.
