Pepper spray will be permanently legalised for self-defence in the Northern Territory and made accessible to older teens, following a successful year-long trial that was labelled “racist” by aboriginal groups.
Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro said on Tuesday that the trial, which allowed adults to buy low-percentage Oleoresin Capsicum (OC) spray from firearms dealers and carry it for self-defence, had a 99% success rate.
She said the Country Liberal Party government would pass laws by the end of the year to legalise the spray and extend the age eligibility to 16 and above, provided 16 and 17-year-olds met other eligibility conditions, and purchased it with a present and consenting parent or guardian.
“Territorians have embraced OC spray for self-defence and made it clear they want to continue to have access, and they want to see that access expanded to younger people,” Ms Finocchiaro said.
“The reality is that we already give 16-year-olds a lot of responsibility – they can drive a car, many of them have jobs and parents want assurance that their children can defend themselves in a dangerous situation.
“Having access to OC spray could be the difference between life and death, or serious injury.”
OC spray will not be allowed on school grounds, and schools will have the power to confiscate it.
The laws will also be expanded to allow any employees at licensed premises to use OC spray in self-defence, not just security workers, and enable anyone in a household to use it within a home’s boundaries, not just the purchaser.
The trial was part of a broader effort to stop rampant indigenous crime, but aboriginal groups opposed it, and claimed legalising pepper spray would make racial divisions worse and “fuel violence”.
The NT has Australia’s highest imprisonment rate with 1.38% of the adult population in jail, and if it was a country would be second only to El Salvador, where 1.65% are behind bars.
Despite being just 26.3% of the NT population, indigenous people make up about 90% of the territory’s adult prisoners and almost 100% of youth detainees, according to government data.
Header image credit: (Björn Hansson – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, Link).
