In a letter from federal Attorney-General Michelle Rowland to her Northern Territory counterpart Marie-Claire Boothby, revealed in budget hearings on Monday, a series of resourcing concerns about the high incarceration rates of children were outlined.
Some children were going before courts with no legal representation, which was inconsistent with international obligations including the Conventions on the Rights of the Child, the letter dated May 20 said.
Officials from the attorney-general's department confirmed that was the case, highlighting increased concerns the Northern Territory government's law amendments have ramped up child incarceration rates.
''How have we got to this point?'' Greens NSW Senator David Shoebridge asked when tabling the letter in the committee.
''Without any checks and balances from the federal government, the Northern Territory has now, through a series of legal and policy reforms, got to a point where its criminal justice system is breaching the Conventions on the Rights of the Child."
The Northern Territory's Country Liberal government introduced controversial ''tough on crime'' laws in 2025, which impose a presumption against bail for both adults and children.
Data from the territory, released in January, showed a 22 per cent surge in those refused bail over a twelve-month period.
Prison populations have swelled as a result.
Federal officials from the Attorney-General's Department confirmed that while the North Australian Aboriginal Justice Agency was still legally representing all children who presented to it, LegalAid had paused help for those who were not in custody.
Attorney-General's Department secretary, Katherine Jones, said her team had worked closely with the Northern Territory and sought to provide additional services there.
''We will continue to engage,'' she said.
The Northern Territory's government in 2024 lowered the age of criminal responsibility to 10 years old about two years after the previous government took it up to 12.
Senator Shoebridge pressed the committee to respond to a United Nations report in May on the changes, but Ms Jones was blunt that her department was not responsible for doing so.
''Different levels of government have different responsibilities," she said.
Senator Shoebridge said in the past year, Aboriginal children had often accounted for the entire Northern Territory youth prison population.
Ms Jones said the Attorney-General's Department did not have an on-the-ground role in Northern Territory Indigenous camps, when questioned by senators about the events leading up to the alleged abduction and death of five-year-old Kumanjayi Little Baby in Alice Springs in April.
"We focus on the responsibilities the government has asked us to discharge, which is to fund projects that divert people from the justice system. That's our responsibility,'' she said.
The Northern Territory government is considering changes to its child protection laws.
