The Fyles Government has unveiled its Alice Springs crime prevention plan that will involve the government providing “temporary accommodation” for unsupervised children and young people found out at night, but concerns remain over the voluntary nature of the program.

Territory Families Minister Kate Worden, who is also the Police Minister, announced yesterday that the government will partner with Saltbush Social Enterprise to increase the number of “safe spaces” for children considered to be at risk who are found out at night with nowhere safe to go.

The children would be identified by youth outreach and “re-engagement officers” on foot patrols, Tangentyere’s night patrols and NT Police patrols.

The announcement comes after the police were forced to close the Alice Springs CBD twice in two weeks last month after groups of youths stole vehicles and rammed them into police cars, presenting a serious risk to the safety of the community and follows 40 more officers being sent to the town to restore order.

“If a young child doesn’t have anywhere safe to go and is out on the streets at all hours of the night and morning, clearly something isn’t right,” Ms Worden said.

“In the first instance, we will always try to get these children home but if we can’t because it isn’t safe, that is when this program kicks in.

“Having Saltbush Enterprises expand their work into this program, we have more accommodation to increase safe place options, along with services to ensure the child and their family are getting the support they need.”

Ms Worden said that a child protection practitioner, an Aboriginal community workers and a male and female Saltbush staff member will be operating from the accommodation centre.

However, the children rounded up and sent to the expanded Saltbush facility will not be legally required to stay there, which has many concerned the program will be ineffective.

Alice Springs Mayor Matt Paterson said on Tuesday that the new program was “welcomed” but that “time will tell if it’s effective or not”.

“It’s a trial and error pace and so obviously, more safe places for young kids is better for the community, it’s better for the kids,” he said on Mix 104.9. “So we’ll wait and see what happens.

“It’s sort of a business-as-usual approach, though. Saltbush has been there for a little while. The only worry I have is that the kids can freely leave and so you know, they’re gonna get dropped there as a just a halfway house effectively, but look, time will tell and obviously I welcome the announcement.”

CLP spokesman for Territory Families Josh Burgoyne said the government needed to change laws to keep the children at the facility if they wanted to see an effect on reducing nightly crime in Alice Springs.

“We hear the Chief Minister say, ‘we’re willing to do whatever it takes’, but then they don’t change the legislation,” he told the ABC, adding that the Saltbush facility is in town and would not prevent youths from leaving.

“The issue with our current facility that we have [in Alice Springs] is that it’s centrally located. We need to find a location that’s out of town.”

Chief Minister Natasha Fyles said the new, expanded Saltbush accommodation program was “just one idea, one solution for a certain element, and there is a range of measures we’re putting in place to keep the broader community safe”.