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Community-based supervision is the most common type of youth justice supervision. It includes:

  • unsentenced orders such as supervised or conditional bail, and home detention bail
  • sentenced orders such as probation and similar orders, suspended detention, and parole or supervised release.

On an average day in 2011-12, most young people (91%) under community-based supervision were serving a sentence. Probation and similar was the most common type of community-based supervision nationally (79%). (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. They are excluded from all state and territory comparisons.)

Proportions for other types of community-based supervision varied between the states and territories. Tasmania had the highest proportion on suspended detention (35% of those under community-based supervision) and Victoria and New South Wales had the highest proportion on parole or supervised release (11% and 10%, respectively).

Only about 12% of young people under community-based supervision were unsentenced. This proportion was lowest in Queensland (8%) and highest in the Australian Capital Territory (34%).

Figure: Young people under community-based supervision on an average day by legal status, states and territories, 2011–12 (per cent)

Vertical bar chart showing (for sentenced and unsentenced community-based supervision) per cent on y-axis and states and territories on x-axis

Notes

  1. Western Australia and the Northern Territory did not supply JJ NMDS data for 2011-12. Totals include estimates for Western Australia and the Northern Territory, where available. Numbers were rounded to the nearest 5 young people and therefore may not sum to the total.
  2. Number of unsentenced and sentenced young people on an average day may not sum to total number of young people as young people may have changed legal status during the same day, or been on both types of orders at the same time.

Source: Youth justice in Australia 2011-12: an overview.

The median duration of completed periods of community-based supervision was almost 3 months (84 days). Some young people completed more than one period during the year. When all periods are considered, young people spent a total of almost 6 months (180 days) under community-based supervision, on average.