Northern Territory Consolidated Acts Northern Territory Consolidated Acts(1) Subject to subsection (2), an officer must not delay, intercept, open or inspect a letter dispatched by or addressed to, a prisoner when that letter is addressed to or apparently originates from the office of the Minister, the Ombudsman or the Director.
(2) Where the officer in charge of a prison or police prison has reasonable cause to believe that a letter addressed to a prisoner and apparently originating from the office of the Minister, an Ombudsman, the Director or the prisoner's legal representative does not originate from that source, he or she may open the letter and inspect it to the extent necessary to establish its origin.
(3) As soon as practicable after an officer in charge of a prison or police prison opens and inspects a letter under subsection (2), he or she must advise the Director, in writing, of the action taken, his or her reason for believing that the letter did not originate from the relevant source, and his or her finding on opening and inspecting the letter.