The NT government has banned young people from the Alice Springs CBD at night. What does it mean?

Police Commissioner Michael Murphy and Chief Minister Eva Lawler announced the youth curfew on Wednesday. (ABC News: Dane Hirst )

Young people are now banned from walking the streets of the Alice Springs CBD without a “lawful purpose” between 6pm and 6am, after the Northern Territory government declared an “emergency situation” in the town.

Some people in the community have praised the drastic action, while others have raised deep concerns about the possible criminalisation of children and teenagers.

But why was the curfew announced, and what does it mean?

Here’s what we know.

Why was a curfew announced?

The NT government has blamed a series of violent incidents on Tuesday – including an attack on an Alice Springs pub in the afternoon, and a brawl involving up to 150 people later that night – as the “final straw” that triggered the curfew.

Police Commissioner Michael Murphy said the violence broke out in response to the death of an 18-year-old man who died in a car crash earlier this month, and that funeral ceremonies saw grieving family members travel to Alice Springs from remote communities.

However, the damage to the Todd Tavern occurred in the early afternoon on Tuesday – outside of the curfew hours that have now been implemented — and police have so far arrested five people aged between 16 and 50 over the incidents.

Commissioner Murphy also said there had been “unlawful conduct” throughout the Alice Springs CBD over the past month, unrelated to the ceremonies, and that “the main objective” of the curfew was to “suppress that and make sure that sort of offending does not occur.”

What are the rules? And who is affected?

Under the curfew, anyone under the age of 18 is not allowed to be within the declared “high risk” area – which stretches about four kilometres, from one end of the town to another – between 6pm and 6am, every night, for two weeks.

Commissioner Murphy said police, as well as Territory Families youth outreach and engagement officers and representatives of the education department, would be “engaging” with young people seen on the streets.

“If you’re a young person coming into the CBD to work, you can still do that, [and] you’ll be engaged with either a police officer or an authorised officer … to establish the lawful purpose for being in the CBD,” he said.

“If you’re a family and you’ve got young kids coming to have dinner in the CBD, you can still do that.”

He insisted police and other authorities would use “discretion and common sense” and the curfew did not mean officers would “start locking up kids”.

Where will young people be taken?

Chief Minister Eva Lawler has insisted young people will be taken to a “safe place” if they are in the CBD after curfew.

One of those options is Saltbush Supported Bail Accommodation, a 24/7 residential home run by Saltbush Social Enterprises and Territory Families.

Other options include returning children home to their families.

But young people cannot be forced to stay at Saltbush, or at home, and the NT has highest rates of youth homelessness and domestic and family violence in the country.

It means many children who are on the street at night are there because they don’t have an alternative.

Ms Lawler said if young people returned to the CBD after curfew, “there can be intervention by police”.

What if a young person refuses to go?

After being pressed, authorities have confirmed it is an offence not to obey a direction under the Emergency Management Act.

That means if a young person refuses to leave the CBD, they could be charged.

Experts have raised concerns about “punitive” measures leading to a “criminalisation of young people”.

Among them is National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Service Karly Warner, who is worried the curfew could exacerbate the challenges facing young people in Alice Springs.

“What we need to remember is it doesn’t matter how many individual stories of traumatised children doing bad things that we find, it won’t change the fact that throwing them in jail …will be the result of the curfew, will only make things much worse,” she said.

“We need resources allocated for local communities to support after-school, evening, weekend activities that engage at-risk young people, intensive and targeted programs and responses for at-risk children with appropriate referral services.”

What happened on night one?

Police said nobody was arrested for failing to obey directions on the first night of the curfew, and, while they did not provide exact figures, said “a number” of young people were “removed” from the CBD.

An additional 60 police officers will be in the town by the time the curfew comes into place again on Thursday night.

What has the response been?

Some senior members of the Alice Springs community, including Indigenous leaders, have praised the curfew as a necessary “circuit breaker” for the town, giving families and authorities time to mull over the next steps.

Others have warned the measure is punitive and could lead to young people, particularly young Aboriginal people, being criminalised.

One thing most people agree on, though, is that a two-week youth curfew cannot address or fix the complicated, long-term issues at the root of many issues plaguing the Alice Springs community.