The Northern Territory government says it is enacting emergency measures across the NT's prisons and police watch houses to address "extraordinary risks" posed by record overcrowding.
In a statement late on Saturday night, the department of corrections said prisoner numbers across the NT had reached 2,370 on Friday following a "rapid and continuing surge" of inmates.
"Due to the significant impacts and extraordinary risks presented by record high and rising prisoner numbers, the commissioner has determined that the current situation represents an emergency requiring immediate action," the statement said.
Under the emergency measures, the department will transfer all female adult prisoners from a prison block in Alice Springs Correctional Centre to a section inside Darwin Correctional Centre to make room for 40 male prisoners in Alice Springs.
Female adult inmates will be transferred from Alice Springs to Darwin. (ABC News: Hamish Harty)
The Darwin Correctional Centre and Alice Springs Reintegration Facility will both receive 20 extra prisoners, while 10 more prisoners will be sent to the Darwin police watch house.
Earlier this week Corrections Commissioner Matthew Varley confirmed about 150 sentenced prisoners were being detained in police watch houses and "temporary facilities" across the NT due to severe overcrowding.
Corrections Commissioner Matthew Varley says the rising prisoner numbers require an emergency response. (ABC News: Emma Vincent)
Last month, two prisoners escaped from the Darwin CBD watch house and travelled more than 200 kilometres south before being recaptured.
The department said the emergency measures, due to begin rolling out this weekend, would relieve pressure on the Katherine, Palmerston and Alice Springs police watch houses.
The United Workers Union has formally contested the emergency measures under its Enterprise Agreement.
Union secretary Erina Early has been contacted for comment.
Corrections officers have raised concerns for years about overcrowding in NT prisons.
Correctional facilities across the NT have been under increasing strain. (ABC News: Robert Koenig Luck)
Darwin Correctional Centre has been housing hundreds more prisoners than its original capacity of 1,048 beds, and earlier this year the ABC confirmed a number of inmates were sleeping in mattresses on the floor.
Almost one per cent of the NT's population is in detention and First Nations people are vastly over-represented in the prison population.
Nearly half the NT's prison population is on remand, meaning they are waiting in custody for their matters to go through the courts.
Darwin Correctional Centre is at capacity. (Supplied: Department of Correctional Services NT)
The government is anticipating prisoner numbers across the NT to surge in response to new mandatory sentencing, bail, public drinking and minimum age of criminal responsibility laws passed in its first sittings of parliament this fortnight.
Earlier this week, Corrections Minister Gerard Maley announced the government would permanently move detained children and teenagers from the newly-upgraded Alice Springs Youth Detention Centre to Darwin to make way for more adult prisoners, which justice advocates have described as concerning.
The Country Liberal Party is planning to build 800 new prisoner beds over the next four years to address the overflow.