A push for legislation banning the use of spit hoods on children and adults in the Northern Territory has been rejected by both sides of politics.
The NT ombudsman released his final report into the controversial restraint devices on Wednesday and recommended a ban covering children and adults be written into territory law.
A 2016 Four Corners episode highlighted the danger of spit hoods on children and they were eventually banned in youth detention. An operational ban prohibited their use on children in NT police watch houses.
But the territory’s Labor government has resisted calls to legislate the ban and extend it to adults – arguing a “balance must be struck”.
“We need to find that balance where we do protect people’s human rights,” the chief minister, Natasha Fyles, said. “But at the same time ensure the frontline staff that are dealing with situations that potentially can be heightened also have protections in place.”
The NT police minister, Kate Worden, said the government would not go further than existing bans on spit hoods, arguing it had reviewed the devices.
“Spit hoods are only to be used on adults in police watch houses in exceptional circumstances with mandatory reporting requirements,” Worden said. “There are no plans to ban the use of spit hoods on adults in watch houses or bring in new spit hood legislation.”
She said NT police would work through the recommendations.
The ombudsman found that of the 30 spit hood and emergency restraint chair uses in 2020/2021, more than 80% involved Aboriginal children and more than half involved children who were intoxicated.
The amount of time the spit hood was worn ranged from one minute to 29 minutes, though for more than half of the incidents, the time frame was not recorded.
The ombudsman said the risk of death and physical or psychological harm was confronting and the risks were not just applicable to children.
“It is clear there is considerable room for officers to improve their efforts at genuine communication with children,” Peter Shoyer said.
“The alternative protective measures and equipment are equally available for managing adults.”
The first of 18 recommendations was that NT police should exercise “patience, empathy and connection” as a routine first step in interaction with children and other community members.
The NT opposition also rejected the ombudsman’s calls for a legislated ban for children and adults.
“Our policy is to give police the tools they need to keep themselves safe, including spit hoods,” the opposition leader, Lia Finocchiaro, said. “If criminals don’t want to wear one – don’t spit at our cops.”
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