A first-of-its-kind report released today by the Australian
Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) presents a picture of young
people in Australia as they moved through the juvenile justice
system between 2000-01 and 2003-04.
The report, Juvenile justice in Australia 2000-01 to
2003-04, is based on the Juvenile Justice national minimum
data set (NMDS), a joint project between the Australasian Juvenile
Justice Administrators (AJJA) and the AIHW, and is designed to
provide nationally comparable information on the juvenile justice
system.
It examines periods of time young people across Australia spent
in detention and under community-based supervision and how those
periods were managed.
'In 2003-04 the majority of juvenile justice sentenced
supervision was community-based, which included probation,
recognisance and community service orders, with just 9% of periods
containing episodes of sentenced detention,' said Dr Phil Anderson
of AIHW's Community Services Integration and Linkage Unit.
During 2003-04 there were 12,992 young people under juvenile
justice supervision in Australia, with males representing around
83%.
Approximately two-thirds (67%) of young people under juvenile
justice supervision were aged 16 years or older with less than 8%
aged 13 years or younger.
About 30% of young people under juvenile justice supervision
were of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander origin.
The rate for Indigenous young people aged 10-17 years who were
under juvenile justice supervision was over ten times that of their
non-Indigenous counterparts - approximately 34 per 1,000 for
Indigenous youth compared with about 3 per 1,000 for non-Indigenous
young people.
In addition to providing statistics on young people within the
juvenile justice system, the report also describes existing
diversity in legislation, policy and practices.
'As responsibility for juvenile justice rests with state and
territory governments, the age when young people are considered
juveniles or adults by the justice system, policy directions,
diversionary options, possible court outcomes, and specific
programs and services available to young people differ throughout
Australia.
'Now for the first time, states and territories have a common
resource to consult when comparing their policies and legislation
and those of other jurisdictions,' Dr Anderson said.
22 February 2006
Further information: Dr Phil Anderson AIHW,
tel. 02 6244 1125, mob. 0417 881 017.
For media copies of the report: Publications
Officer, AIHW, tel 61 2 6244 1032.
Availability: Check the AIHW Publications
Catalogue for availability of the Juvenile justice in
Australia 2000-01 to 2003-04 report.