‘Leave our kids alone’: Thousands rally across Australia to bring justice to Don Dale victims

Thousands of people have attended rallies in major Australian cities to bring justice to the children abused at Northern Territory’s Don Dale detention centre.  

Communities in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Perth and Darwin today converged to protest the treatment of children at Don Dale and other youth prisons.

Video footage of a young boy being restrained by guards and repeatedly abused was aired on ABC’s Four Corners earlier this week. The footage caused uproar across the nation, with many calling for the Northern Territory’s government to stand down.

READ MORE: Boy abused in NT detention centre releases letter thanking the public

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has called for a royal commission into the abuse of youths in the NT’s corrections system following the program.

"Like all Australians, we are shocked by the report, by that evidence that was shown on Four Corners last night. Deeply shocked.

We have moved swiftly to get to the bottom of it,” Mr Turnbull said.

A large crowd of people swarmed Melbourne’s State Library at 1pm today.

A number of signs read “Hands off Aboriginal Kids”, and crowds chanted “leave our kids alone”.

Speeches opposing the NT government and its prison systems were widely applauded.

Tweets flowed from the protest throughout the afternoon, with #handsoffAboriginalkids trending.

“Many teary eyes… the whole community is shocked,” one attendee wrote.

“Let’s not pretend the Four Corners story is an NT problem… it’s a national disgrace,” another said.

Communities later moved down Swanston Street to the corner of Bourke Street and Flinders Street, where protests continued.

A group of four youths locked themselves by neck to a wrought iron cage on the tram tracks, halting transport.

Covered in the Indigenous flag, the young people were recorded on video screaming ‘justice’ from the makeshift prison.

At Sydney’s Town Hall, hundreds of people took to the steps of the historic building to make their message clear.

A number of protest signs swaddling the city hall read “Kids Need Nurture Not Torture”.

The police public order squad was seen surrounding the area later in the afternoon. No arrests are believed to have been made.

Brisbane’s CBD was brought to a standstill during the protests. Traffic was stopped as a barrage of protestors flowed through the streets from King George Square.

In Darwin, thousands rallied in the city streets and at Raintree park, with a number of people toting the indigenous flag.

Forrest Place in Perth’s CBD was the centre-point for the city’s rally.

Protesters used megaphones to spread their message.

The ‘emergency rallies’ were announced on Facebook earlier this week, sparking a large amount of interest.

More than 3,000 people clicked ‘attend’ on the Melbourne event.