Australian youth curfew extended till April 16

CANBERRA: Eva Lawler, the chief minister of the Australia's Northern Territory (NT), on Tuesday announced that the curfew for people under the age of 18 in Alice Springs has been extended until April 16.

The announcement was made one day before the curfew, which was imposed on March 27 in response to a series of violent incidents in the town, was set to expire, Xinhua news agency reported.

Under the curfew, anyone under the age of 18 is banned from being out of their home in the central business district (CBD) of Alice Springs between the hours of 6 p.m. and 6 a.m.

Addressing a press conference, Lawler said that the curfew was a necessary measure to address unrest and crime in the town and that people have felt much safer since it was introduced.

"We've seen very encouraging results with the introduction of the youth curfew," she said.

"It is important that we don't lose the momentum that we have established."

She said that the police, Department of Education, Department of Territory Families and health and service providers would work together much closer after the end of the curfew than they had been previously.

An additional 58 police officers were deployed to Alice Springs - the largest town in central Australia - to help enforce the curfew.

NT Police Commissioner Michael Murphy said he has received overwhelmingly positive feedback from officers about the curfew.

"From the introduction of the curfew, we saw a noticeable decrease in crime in and around the CBD," he said.

The extension of the curfew will take it past the end of the school holiday period in the NT on Monday, April 15.