Alice Springs women's prison delay creating fears for inmates' safety

A criminal lawyer and the union representing prison guards say a delay in developing a women's prison in Alice Springs is increasing overcrowding in the mixed population prison and putting female inmates at risk.

Late last year, the Northern Territory government announced the former Alice Springs youth justice facility would be refurbished and its capacity increased to house women prisoners.

Nearly a year on from the promise, women are still surrounded by male inmates in the increasingly overcrowded Alice Springs Correctional Centre .

Some women have been relocated from Alice Springs to Darwin and vice versa due to overcrowding in both prisons, in a move criticised by advocates as traumatic and distressing.

Union concerns over delay

Erina Early, NT branch secretary for the United