As a boy behind bars he was tear-gassed, spit-hooded and shackled, but today Dylan Voller is a free man, with the potential to become a role model for other at-risk kids.
The teen inmate whose treatment in youth detention prompted the Northern Territory royal commission was last week granted bail from a Darwin adult prison.
The 19-year-old was released on Monday to spend the next four months with the Alice Springs-based Bush Mob rehabilitation camp.
And if all goes well, the remaining months of his near four-year sentence could be suspended.
Voller was jailed in 2014 for a violent, ice-fuelled crime spree, and was not due for release until October this year.
The royal commission was sparked when footage of his treatment in the NT's youth prison system was aired on national television last year.
Voller's bail conditions include random alcohol and drug testing, counselling and electronic monitoring.
His lawyer Peter O'Brien said the teenager could be a role model to other vulnerable kids if his rehab stint is successful.
"We could not be prouder of this brave, articulate boy," Mr O'Brien wrote on Twitter.
"We hope his story brings change to NT justice."
Voller's family has asked for privacy during this time.
It comes as co-commissioners Mick Gooda and Margaret White head to New Zealand this week to examine alternative approaches to youth protection and detention.
The NZ model focuses on community-based action outside of the formal criminal justice system, with an emphasis on diversion.
This month the inquiry will also hold meetings with current and former staff of juvenile detention facilities befpre three weeks of public hearings to be held in Darwin and Alice Springs in March.
In the past two weeks the commission has sat in Queensland, Victoria and South Australia.
Official Secretary Kirsty Windeyer said the inquiry is seeking input from communities, social and medical workers, teachers, police, lawyers and detention and protection staff.
"It is hearing from the people most affected - both from the young people and those working with them - that will help us determine the best recommendations to put forward to government," she said.
The inquiry will release an interim report on March 31 and its final report on August 1.
NT INQUIRY'S MARCH HEARINGS:
- Will explore issues regarding the treatment and control of children held in detention centres
- The adequacy of the facilities and care, including health and education
- Administration, governance, staffing and training in the detention centres
- Oversight, monitoring and complaints mechanisms.
GIVING EVIDENCE:
- Former youth prison guards and managers along with those responsible for oversight of the detention centres.
- Children and young adults who have been in NT detention facilities.
- Professionals providing services to those in detention such as case workers and lawyers.
