Malak House was the new name for Malak House Remand and Assessment Centre from 1987. Located in Malak, a suburb of Darwin, it operated as a detention centre for young people who had committed offences. Malak House closed in 1991 and was replaced by the Don Dale Detention Centre.
Malak House Juvenile Detention Centre, located on the corner of Malak Crescent and Patterson Street, came into being when Malak House changed its purpose from a Remand and Assessment Centre to a detention centre in 1987.
In the late 1980s after a number of abscondings from Malak House, 'the grim reality' of conditions in the institution was reported in the media. A former youth worker talked of the harsh treatment of children in the Home and residents shared stories of long periods of solitary confinement.
Both Malak House in Darwin and Giles House in Alice Springs closed in 1991. All young offenders were sent to the newly opened Don Dale Detention Centre in Darwin.
1963 - 1974 Essington House
1976? - 1979 Chapman Road Remand Home
1979 - 1987 Malak House Remand and Assessment Centre
1987 - 1991 Malak House Juvenile Detention Centre
1991 - Don Dale Juvenile Detention Centre
Sources used to compile this entry: Northern Territory Government Department of Correctional Services Annual Report 1991-1992, NT Government, Department of Correctional Services, Northern Territory Government, Darwin, 1992; Northern Territory Government Department of Correctional Services Annual Report 1993-1994, NT Government, Department of Correctional Services, Northern Territory Government, Darwin, 1994; Department of Justice, Northern Territory Government, Review of the Northern Territory Youth Justice system, Darwin, September 2011, https://hdl.handle.net/10070/614625; Malak House - news articles [Document], Date: 1989; Richardson, Brian E, Northern Territory Task Force on Juvenile Crime, Darwin, 1985.
Prepared by: Karen George and Gary George
Created: 5 February 2013, Last modified: 8 April 2014