Source: Australian Institute of Health and Welfare

In Australia, responsibility for juvenile justice lies with the states and territories, and involves both juvenile justice agencies and other justice agencies such as the police and the courts. This report presents information on one aspect of the juvenile justice process: the supervision of young people in the juvenile justice system.

There were 4,708 young people under juvenile justice supervision on an average day in 2007–08 in all states and territories except New South Wales, for which data were not available, and 9,540 young people experienced supervision at some time during the year. Most young people were supervised in the community. Around 87% of those under supervision on an average day were under community-based supervision while 13% were in detention. One-quarter of young people who were under supervision during 2007–08 had both community-based supervision and detention during the year.

More young people are in detention

The number of young people in detention on an average day in Australia (excluding New South Wales) rose from 540 in 2004–05 to 630 in 2007–08—a 17% increase. The rate of young people aged 10–17 years in detention during the year increased from 1.7 per 1,000 to 2.0 per 1,000, indicating that a young person aged 10–17 years in 2007–08 was around 1.2 times as likely to be in detention during the year as a young person aged 10–17 years in 2004–05.

The number of unsentenced young people in detention is increasing

In 2004–05, just over one-third of the average daily detention population was unsentenced but, by 2007–08, unsentenced young people in detention outnumbered those who were sentenced. The increase in the unsentenced population occurred for both Indigenous and non-Indigenous young people.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people are still over-represented

Although only about 5% of young Australians are Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islanders, 40% of those under supervision on an average day were Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islanders. Their over-representation was particularly prominent in detention, where over half of those in detention on an average day and 60% of those who were unsentenced in detention were Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islanders. An Indigenous young person aged 10–17 years was 16 times as likely as a non-Indigenous young person of the same age to be under supervision in 2007–08, nearly 15 times as likely to be under community-based supervision as a non-Indigenous young person, and nearly 30 times as likely to be in detention.

Download the full report: Juvenile justice in Australia 2007-08 from http://www.aihw.gov.au/publications/index.cfm/title/10853.