Royal Commission Will Look Into Whether Racism Played Role In Youth Detention Abuse

The commission was set up in response to shocking footage aired on Monday's Four Corners.

Prime minister Malcolm Turnbull has outlined the terms of reference for the royal commission into youth detention and child protective systems administered by the Northern Territory government.

Dan Himbrechts / AAPIMAGE

"The royal commission will conduct a thorough and thoroughly independent inquiry into the specific systemic problems identified within the Northern Territory, how those problems arose, the failure to identify and correct them, and appropriate reforms," said Turnbull on Thursday afternoon.

The terms of the royal commission were developed in consultation with the NT government, and will examine the "failings" of the Youth Justice Act dating back to 2006.

Former chief justice of the NT Supreme Court Brian Ross Martin, AO, has been appointed as royal commissioner and hearings will commence in September, with the aim to report by 31 March 2017.

Martin said the issue of "racism" will be looked at as part of the inquiry.

"Whether racism does or doesn't play a role will be part of the inquiry. This is about child protection systems, it is about the culture," he said.

The royal commission will also investigate whether more should have been done by the NT government to prevent the reoccurrence of inappropriate treatment and specifically why a report from August 2015 of abuse at the Don Dale juvenile detention centre was not acted on.

The royal commission was announced after shocking footage of teenage boys being abused was aired by the ABC's Four Corners program.

ABC Four Corners

Restraint chairs and spit hoods have now been banned in Territory detention centres, chief minister Adam Giles told Sky News on Thursday.

Children from the Don Dale prison will be moved to alternative accommodation "as quickly as possible", Giles said, most likely to former immigration detention centres.