There is no general judicial policy throughout the Northern Territory that assault police carries a presumption of imprisonment; each case must be individually assessed. However, in remote Aboriginal communities where there is serious actual violence upon police, imprisonment will often be appropriate because of the need to protect police and maintain community protection. The wishes of an Aboriginal community regarding sentencing may be taken into account but cannot justify a sentence more harsh than otherwise appropriate. An initiated Aboriginal young offender may be treated comparably to an adult for sentencing purposes where the offender's own community regards him as having adult status.
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