The most common charge was serious assault, followed by choking, strangulation or suffocation, and making threats to kill. In the past month alone, 22 youths were charged with domestic violence-related assaults, three with choking or strangulation and two with making threats to kill. Other charges included distributing intimate images, recording intimate images without consent, endangering serious harm and sexual intercourse without consent.
The data does not specify who the victims of the charges were, meaning they may include family members as well as intimate partners, and does not provide victims' ages. The NT has the highest rates of domestic and family violence in the country, with ABS data showing an offending rate of 2,124 offenders per 100,000 people, compared with 482 per 100,000 in NSW, the second highest.
Four women have died allegedly at the hands of their male partners in the NT so far this year, including two girls under 18 from remote communities. In July, a 17-year-old girl was found dead in a home on Elcho Island, 500 kilometres east of Darwin, from what police allege were blunt force injuries, and a 34-year-old man was charged with her murder. Three months later, a 16-year-old girl from Alpurrurulam, west of Mount Isa, died after attending a local health clinic following an alleged physical assault, and a 26-year-old man was later charged with her murder.
Hannah George, chief executive of the Katherine Women's Information and Legal Service (KWILS), which offers legal support to women and girls around the Big Rivers region, said the numbers were not a surprise. "Domestic violence doesn't have an age limit," she said. She said the service had recorded an uptick in the number of young women and girls reaching out for support over the past year, with one in eight of its clients under 25.
Ms George said the proliferation of social media and access to technology had contributed to an increase in non-physical abuse. "We're definitely seeing an increase in threats that young women are receiving to share intimate images or videos of them as a form of control," she said. She said young girls, particularly those living in remote areas, faced added challenges in accessing support, including limited service availability and physical isolation.
Donna Ah Chee, chief executive of the Aboriginal Medical Services Alliance Northern Territory (AMSANT), said health clinics were often shouldering the load of domestic violence support in small communities. "The health clinic is one of the few places a young woman can go for help," she said. "Health services can treat injuries and help identify young women at risk. But there must be somewhere safe for them to go, and specialist support they can reach before violence escalates."
Trish Connolly, newly appointed chief executive of the NT Council of Social Services, said teenagers and young people have been "forgotten" in the domestic violence response nationally. "We know this from the national domestic and family violence plan, [programs] are geared toward adult women and their children," she said. "There's a massive gap for children and young people who experience domestic and family violence without a caregiver." With frontline services already unable to meet demand for crisis accommodation, she said additional funding is needed. "We need age-appropriate responses for children and young people who experience domestic violence on their own," she said.
A key part of the NT government's response to domestic, family and sexual violence is the Circuit Breaker program, which it describes as a "voluntary early intervention program" funded through the NT DFSV Reduction Strategy 2025-2028. In the 2025-26 financial year, 439 Circuit Breaker cases were commenced, however the program is not available in remote communities.