NT Chief Minister, Lia Finocchiaro, has announced that prisons for women in the Northern Territory will exclusively accommodate cisgender women.

In a separate development, proposed changes to the Northern Territory’s anti-discrimination laws were brought back to the parliament for debate on Thursday.

During a Thursday morning interview with SBS News, Finocchiaro expressed concerns about the amendments, stating, “There is no need for these changes, and they could potentially cause harm.”

“In the NT, Sistergirls and trans women are currently housed in male prisons, where they experience disproportionately high rates of sexual assault, verbal abuse, and physical violence,” Justice Not Jails said in a statement.

The two letters call on prison officers to “refrain from blatantly using derogatory, insulting or outright homophobic remarks”.

Community members displaying a transgender flag in Darwin on Wednesday evening. Source: SBS News / Josh van Staden

“We can tolerate to a certain degree, the ridicule from other inmates as they can easily be charged but when coming directly from an officer, it feels like being hit by a train in a loop as they are not really held accountable.”

In a statement to SBS News, the NT Department of Corrections said it has a directive in place to manage trans, gender diverse, and intersex prisoners that was developed in accordance with the NT Discrimination Act 1992 and the Commonwealth Sex Discrimination Act 1984.

Trans and gender diverse inmates face a higher risk of violence in prisons, advocates say. Source: AAP / Amanda Parkinson

LGBTQI+ Groups ‘horrified’ by trans comments

Tony Sinni, 25, told SBS News the CLP “aren’t here for the safety of territorians” but rather the protection “of a particular elite group of territorians”.

Justice Not Jails advocate Tony Sinni said recent comments about the trans community promote hate and division. Source: SBS News / Josh van Staden

“It’s leading the territory backwards rather than forwards, and it’s a national embarrassment, and it’s becoming a global embarrassment.”

Every trans person “just wants to be left alone and exist with the freedom from fear for being discriminated against”, Sinni said.

Elliot Hughes speaking to members of the LGBTIQ+ community in Darwin. Source: SBS News / Josh van Staden

Similarly, Greens member for the Darwin seat of Nightcliff Kat McNamara said a ban would strip away an “essential protection” for trans women in the NT.

Dr Danielle Stewart works for Northside Health in Darwin, which operates a dedicated health clinic supporting LGBTIQA+ patients.

Dr Danielle Stewart says trans people have a heavy mental health load Source: SBS News / Josh van Staden

She says the small team of visiting GPs support an average of 300 trans people every year in Darwin, with 10 per cent of patients under the age of 18.

“They have specific health needs, and we know from what they tell us about their experiences with incarceration in the NT that they are sometimes not able to access their gender affirming hormones and other healthcare needs that they specifically have.”

NT policy changes

During parliamentary question time on Wednesday, Finocchiaro said there were currently three transgender inmates housed in men’s prisons, isolated from other inmates.

The Department of Corrections told SBS News it would not publicly release the current directive, citing security reasons.

‘Ensuring women’s safety’

“And that applies irrespective of whether the person is transgender or cisgender,” he said.