Australia’s Northern Territory (NT) Police Commissioner Michael Murphy issued a Public Disorder Declaration for Alice Springs on Monday following several civil disturbances over the weekend, including the assault of four off-duty police officers on Sunday morning. The declaration includes a restricted movement provision that creates a curfew for all residents and visitors to the town from 10:00 PM to 6:00 AM local time. This curfew will last for three days from 10:00 PM local time on Monday.
The declaration was issued after a series of violent acts occurred in Alice Springs. On Friday afternoon, a police officer was run over by a vehicle driven by an intoxicated man, which resulted in fractures to the officer’s arm and leg. On Saturday evening, around 80 people exited two licensed premises earlier in the night and began to engage in violent conduct in a large-scale disturbance on Alice Springs council lawns. Police officers were assaulted as they used force to disperse the crowd. The members of the group wandered into the Todd River. Following this, the group assaulted and robbed four off-duty police officers who were walking home in the early hours of the morning. The violent disturbances continued into Sunday, during which a 40-year-old woman was stabbed with a knife and hospitalised. Later in the night, three youths in a stolen motor vehicle conducted a robbery at a service station.
The powers of the police commissioner to issue declarations came into force on June 1, 2024, following amendments to the Police Administration Act 1978 and the Police Administration Regulations 1994. The declaration was issued under sections 135B and 135C of the Police Administration Act 1978. Section 135D gives police officers the power to control the movement of people to prevent, stop or reduce public disorder in the declared area. These powers may only be exercised while the declaration is in effect. Failure to comply with a direction without a reasonable excuse is an offence under section 135E.
This is the second curfew imposed on Alice Springs this year. Following a spike in crime rates and violence, particularly involving young people, an emergency declaration was made for Alice Springs and a three-week youth curfew was imposed from March 27 to April 16 this year.
The legality of the Public Order Declaration legislation and the imposition of the curfews were widely criticised by Indigenous legal services and justice organisations. Amnesty International expressed serious concerns over the three-week youth curfew, calling it “a misguided attempt [that] not only targets Aboriginal youth but also fails to address the underlying issues fuelling crime in communities.” In particular, there are concerns that the curfews disproportionately impact Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples who are severely over-represented in the NT’s criminal justice system.
Relatedly, on April 16, 2023, several Australian MPs accused Federal Opposition Leader Peter Dutton of misrepresenting the prevalence of sexual abuse in Alice Springs. Dutton claimed that sexual abuse remained “rampant” in the town following the federal government’s response to rising crime rates in the NT.
