Good morning, and welcome to our live coverage of the royal commission into the protection and detention of children in the Northern Territory, which begins its first public hearing in Darwin today.

Background:

The commission was called by prime minister Malcolm Turnbull in July, amid national outrage at the mistreatment of juvenile detainees broadcast by ABC’s Four Corners program.

The program included the now infamous footage of Dylan Voller being covered in a spithood and tied by his ankles, wrists and neck in a restraint chair for almost two hours.

It also covered a 2014 incident in the Don Dale juvenile detention centre when one detainee, Jake Roper, got out of his cell in the isolated Behavioural Management Unit and began causing damage. Guards were called in from the adult prison, and tear gas was used against Roper and another five detainees who were still inside their cells.

Four of those other boys are currently suing the NT government for alleged assault and battery.

While these were high profile incidents, the first hearing of the royal commission is unlikely to delve deeply into the details of them, but rather will be going over the numerous inquiries and reports previously conducted.

The commission has been tasked to examine 10 years of policy and practise in the NT, relating to child protection and detention, back to 2006 when the Youth Justice Act was introduced.

The first public hearing will go for three days this week, and further hearings are scheduled for every month between now and March – the current reporting date.

Currently just 25 days of public hearings are scheduled, but the commissioners have indicated they’ll probably ask for an extension of time, and this morning, the attorney general George Brandis said the federal government would be open to that.

Read about the co-commissioners, Margaret White and Mick Gooda, here.

Read about calls for the commission to be expanded beyond the Northern Territory (after alleged mistreatment was uncovered at other juvenile facilities interstate) here.