Protest at Alice Springs prison: Eight prisoners on the roof

The protest comes after disturbing footage aired on Monday night of teenagers being mistreated at youth detention centres in the Northern Territory.

A spokesman for the Northern Territory Department of Corrections confirmed eight prisoners had been on the roof since 2.45pm local time.

He said there were no weapons involved in the protest and there were no reports of injuries.

Three NT police negotiators spent several hours on Tuesday night talking to the eight men, to get them down from the tin roof, the spokesman said.

"They haven't made any specific demands, we're very confident it will be resolved peacefully tonight," the spokesman said on Tuesday.

"It's getting colder and colder, it will drop to 1 degree tonight and they're only wearing thin clothing, so police think it's a matter of waiting it out."

The spokesman said the eight prisoners managed to find a way up onto the roof next to the prison exercise yard, by climbing up a fence.

NT Corrections acting executive director of custodial operations Bill Yan spoke to ABC Radio in Alice Springs on Tuesday afternoon, after speaking with staff at the prison.

"I think the guys were out during an exercise period and during the exercise period those eight have managed to get on the roof," Mr Yan said.

"The police are just being briefed by management at the centre as we speak, they're going to talk to the guys on the roof to see what their issue is and to see if we can resolve it."

He said the situation was "pretty calm and stable".

Prison officers would have been outside with the inmates, monitoring the exercise yard, when the prisoners climbed on the roof, Mr Yan said.

"It's not that easy to get up there, obviously these guys were determined to do it," he said.

The Alison Springs facility houses up to 470 prisoners, of both genders, and functions as a minimum through to maximum security prison.

Fairfax Media photographer Steve Strike said the prison, which is about 30 kilometres from Alice Springs, had been locked down and media barred from approaching the facility.

As the sun began to set over the prison, trucks brought in lighting equipment to assist police negotiators.

Tensions are running high following revelations of abuse of teenage boys at the Don Dale Youth Detention Centre in 2014 and 2015.

The ABC Four Corners program aired disturbing footage on Monday night showing the assault and mistreatment of teenage boys in the Alice Springs adult prison and the Don Dale youth detention centre near Darwin.

Prime Minster Malcolm Turnbull has promised a royal commission into juvenile detention in the territory following the revelations. Meanwhile, the NT's Corrections Minister John Elferink has been dumped.

More to come.