Number and rate under supervision
Nationally, there were 6,940 young people under youth justice supervision on an average day in 2011–12. (Western Australia and the Northern Territory did not participate in the Juvenile Justice National Minimum Data Set during 2011–12. Where possible, estimates for these jurisdictions are included in the national totals.)
This equates to 26 young people aged 10–17 under supervision for every 10,000 in the population.
Types of supervision
On an average day, most (86%) young people were supervised in the community and the remainder were in detention. However, about 41% of young people under supervision during 2011–12 were in detention at some time during the year.
Time under supervision
The median duration of all completed supervision periods during 2011–12 was about 11 weeks. However, many young people completed multiple periods of supervision. When all the time spent under supervision during 2011–12 is considered, young people spent an average of about 6 months (185 days) under supervision.
Remoteness and socioeconomic status
Although most young people under supervision had lived in cities (49%) and regional areas (40%) before entering supervision, those from geographically remote areas were the most likely to be supervised. Young people aged 10–17 from Remote areas were almost 4 times as likely to be under supervision on an average day as those from Major cities, while those from Very remote areas were 6 times as likely.
Young people aged 10–17 from the areas of lowest socioeconomic status were 5 times as likely to be under supervision as those from the areas of highest socioeconomic status.
Supervision history
Almost 2 in 3 (65%) young people under supervision had been supervised in a previous year; the remainder were new entrants to supervision. Probation and similar was the most common first type of supervision (45%), followed by remand (26%). More than half of young people under supervision (59%) had been in detention at some time during their supervision history.