Community Safety That Actually Works

Territorians deserve to feel safe in their homes, streets and communities.

People across Darwin, Palmerston and the regions are frustrated by crime, repeat offending and anti-social behaviour. Victims deserve support, police deserve resources, and communities deserve real solutions.

But Territorians are also tired of seeing tragic events turned into political point-scoring.

We need a smarter approach to community safety — one that supports strong action against serious offending while also investing in prevention measures proven to reduce crime and repeat offending over the long term.

Real safety means fewer victims, safer communities, and policies based on evidence rather than headlines.

We call on the Chief Minister and the NT Government to:

1. Stop politicising tragedy

Commit to evidence-based community safety policies instead of reactive lawmaking and political fear campaigns.

2. Invest in prevention that works

Expand funding for early intervention, diversion, youth outreach, family support and rehabilitation programs proven to reduce repeat offending.

3. Support police and frontline workers

Provide long-term resources for community policing, domestic violence prevention, youth services and crisis response teams.

4. Measure outcomes transparently

Publicly report on recidivism, program effectiveness and community safety outcomes so Territorians can see what is actually working.

5. Work with communities

Partner with Aboriginal organisations, local communities, schools, sporting clubs, victim advocates and service providers to build local solutions that keep communities safe.

6. Coordinate health and justice systems

Our current approach fails to deal adequately with the reality that many violent offenders face a complex combination of mental health, brain injury, disability and substance abuse challenges. We need approaches where health, justice and corrections work together effectively to reduce crime and keep the whole community safer.