Juvenile justice facts and figures

Number of young people under supervision

Juvenile Justice in Australia report contains information on the supervision of young people by juvenile justice agencies. This supervision can occur in the community or in detention.

Most young people under supervision are in the community.

• On an average day in 2007-08, around 4,000 young people were under community-based supervision and about 650 were in detention in Australia (excluding New South Wales, for which data were not available).
• Around one-quarter of young people under supervision during 2007-08 had both community-based supervision and detention during the year.

Trends in supervision numbers

The number and rate of young people in detention is increasing.

• The rate of young people in detention on an average day increased for all states and territories (except NSW, for which data were not available).
• The number of young people in detention increased by 17%, with most of the increase occurring among unsentenced young people.
• The rate of young people under community-based supervision on an average day was steady from 2004-05 to 2006-07, but increased slightly in
  2007-08

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people

The over-representation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people under supervision is continuing, and is particularly high in detention.

• Only 5% of Australians aged 10-17 years are Indigenous, but 40% of those aged 10-17 years under supervision were Indigenous.
• Indigenous young people aged 10-17 years were 16 times as likely to be under supervision as non-Indigenous young people, and were 30 times as likely to be under detention as non-Indigenous young people.
• Indigenous young people were more likely to be in unsentenced detention than non-Indigenous young people. 

Remand

The total time spent on remand during the year is increasing.

• Over the four years from 2004-05, the total time the average young person spent on remand during the year increased.
• Only half of remand periods completed in 2007-08 ended with the young person being sentenced, and one-quarter of these were followed by a period of sentenced detention.
• Most young people completed only one period of remand during the year, with a median length of a remand period lasting 11 day.

Sentenced detention

Most periods of sentenced detention end with the young person released on parole or supervised release.

• Two-thirds of sentenced detention periods ended with the young person being released on parole or supervised release, and just over one-quarter ended because the conditions of the sentence were met.
• Most young people completed only one period of sentenced detention during the year, with a median length of a sentenced detention lasting almost three months.
• The total time the average young person spent in sentenced detention during the year decreased from 2004-05 to 2005-06, but increased in the next two years.

Information sheets

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