NT Branch: Health and justice advocacy symposium

We eagerly invite you to attend the RANZCP Health and Justice Advocacy symposium on A health-led approach to justice and community safety. 

The structure of this event will include an initial speaking component followed by an interactive workshop.

Theme: A health-led approach to youth justice and community safety

Date: Thursday, 30 October 2025

Time: 5.30pm – 8.30pm (ACST)

Address: Doubletree Alice Springs, 82 Barrett Dr, Alice Springs NT

Cost: Free

Canapes, food platters, and drinks will be served on the evening. Please let us know if you have any dietary requirements.

Speakers

•    Dr Dave Chapman, Chair RANZCP NT Branch

•    Dr Sarah Dorrington, NT Forensic Psychiatrist

•    Judge Carly Ingles, Head of Alice Springs Youth Court 

•    Dr John Zorbas, President AMA NT 

Our aim is to engage and connect with individuals and organisations across the various sectors involved in youth justice, and to workshop tangible actions, and the ongoing direction of collective advocacy to improve outcomes for Territorians.

We are greatly concerned about the health consequences of increasingly punitive amendments to the Youth Justice Act (2005), compounded by the NT’s exceptionally high incarceration rate far exceeding any other Australian jurisdiction. From mid-2024 to present prison numbers have risen to record highs and both correctional centres in the NT are well over capacity. The subsequent overcrowding in unsuitable prisons is not only causing health problems but is fundamentally inhumane.

We are currently living through a time of performative law making in youth justice, where headline reforms take precedence over the lived realities of children. The recent trilogy of legislative amendments, including lowering the age of criminal responsibility, tightening bail, and reintroducing spit hoods, is less a safety net and more a blueprint, which will disproportionately affect Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and young people in the Territory.

Join us in advocating for a health-led approach to justice and community safety in the NT. Together, we will explore practical strategies and pathways to strengthen collective advocacy, grounded in evidence and focused on prevention, early intervention, and diversion to treatment and support, not incarceration.

Register

Contact

Monique Hodson-Smith
RANZCP Policy and Advocacy Advisor – ACT, NT, & TAS
E: Monique.hodson-smith@ranzcp.org
P: +61 3 9236 9140