Youth justice

age: In YJ NMDS youth justice reporting, age is calculated as at the start of the first relevant period of supervision, unless that period began before the financial year in question, in which case age is calculated as at the start of the financial year.

average day: A measure of the number of young people under supervision from the YJ NMDS. The ‘average day’ measure is calculated by summing the number of days each young person spends under supervision during the financial year and dividing this by the total number of days in the year. It reflects the number under supervision on any given day during the year and indicates the average number of young people supported by the supervision system at any one time. This summary measure reflects both the number of young people supervised and the amount of time they spent under supervision.

breach: A breach occurs when a young person reoffends or fails to comply with the conditions of a community-based order.

community-based supervision: A legal arrangement that requires a young person to be supervised by a youth justice agency within the community. Community-based supervision may be unsentenced or sentenced. Unsentenced community-based legal orders include supervised or conditional bail and home detention bail; sentenced sentenced community-based orders include probation and similar orders, suspended detention, and parole or supervised release.

detention: A legal arrangement that requires a young person to be detained in a youth justice facility. This includes both sentenced and unsentenced detention.

detention sentence: A sentence that requires the young person to be detained in a youth justice facility.

dual track system: The system in Victoria whereby young people aged 18–20 can be sentenced to a youth detention centre rather than an adult prison where a court deems this appropriate.

during the year: A measure of the number of young people under supervision from the YJ NMDS. The ‘during the year’ measure is a count of the number of individuals who were supervised at any time during the financial year. It is calculated by counting each distinct young person once, even if they entered and exited supervision multiple times.

index sentence: The sentence from which returns to sentenced supervision are counted.

Indigenous: A young person of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Island descent who identifies and is identified as an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander.

legal status: Whether a young person is subject to unsentenced or sentenced orders. Young people may also have a legal status of ‘other’ (neither sentenced nor unsentenced).

parole or supervised release: A sentenced community-based supervision order that is issued or enacted following a period of sentenced detention. Release on parole or supervised release is possible in some situations when a young person has served a specified proportion of their detention sentence. A breach of the parole or supervised release order usually results in the young person returning to detention to serve the remainder of the sentence.

police-referred detention: Unsentenced detention that occurs before the young person’s initial court appearance.

probation and similar: A sentenced community-based supervision order that may be issued with additional mandated requirements such as community work or program attendance. The youth justice agency may or may not directly supervise any additional mandated requirements, but remains responsible for the overall supervision and case management of the young person. Includes probation, recognisance and community service orders that a youth justice agency supervises or case manages.

pseudo-recidivism: Where offences that were committed before the index offence but adjudicated after the index offence are falsely captured as recidivist acts. For example, offence A was committed on 1 January and the related sentence started 1 June and ended 30 June. Offence B was committed on 1 February and the related sentence started 1 March and ended 15 March. If offence dates are used, offence A is correctly considered the index offence and offence B the recidivist act. However, if sentence dates are used (and the offence dates are unknown), the sentence relating to offence B is incorrectly considered the index order and the sentence relating to offence A is considered the return order.

rate: A rate is one number (the numerator) divided by another number (the denominator). The numerator is commonly the number of events in a specified time. The denominator is the population 'at risk' of the event. In YJ NMDS reporting, rates are multiplied by 10,000 to create whole numbers.

rate ratio: A means of comparing rates by dividing one rate by another. Rate ratios may be used to compare Indigenous and non-Indigenous rates and to provide a measure of Indigenous over-representation.

reception: The event of entering a detention centre to begin an unsentenced or sentenced detention order. Neither a transfer to a new detention facility nor a change in legal status constitutes a reception; however, if a young person is released from detention and then re-enters at a later date, this is a new reception.

release on bail: Following a period of remand, a court may order a young person to be released into the community pending the outcome of the trial. Bail may be either unsupervised or supervised.

remand: The act of placing in custody a young person who is accused of an offence to await trial or the continuation of the trial.

remoteness: YJ NMDS reporting uses the Australian Standard Geographical Classification (ASGC) Remoteness Structure, developed by the ABS, to analyse the remoteness of usual residence of the town or suburb of young people under supervision. This structure allows areas that share common characteristics of remoteness to be classified into broad geographical regions of Australia. These areas are Major cities, Inner regional, Outer regional, Remote and Very remote.

return sentence: A sentence that occurs after the index sentence.

return to sentenced supervision: An episode in which a young person returns to the youth justice agency for a period of sentenced supervision following 1 or more previous period(s) of sentenced supervision.

sentenced supervision: Any form of sentenced youth justice supervision (community-based or detention).

socioeconomic position: A measure of how ‘well off’ a person, group or area is. YJ NMDS reporting uses the Socio-Economic Indexes for Areas (SEIFA), developed by the ABS, to analyse the socioeconomic position of the usual residence of young people under supervision. The SEIFA comprises four indexes that each focus on a different aspect of socioeconomic advantage and disadvantage. The YJ NMDS uses the Index of Relative Socio-Economic Advantage and Disadvantage.

supervised or conditional bail: The act of allowing a young person who is accused of an offence to await trial or the continuation of the trial in the community under the supervision of a youth justice agency.

suspended detention: A sentence that usually involves a period of intensive supervision in the community with the possibility of detention if the young person breaches the community supervision. Includes immediate release orders, suspended detention orders and intensive supervision of young people with detention orders.

unsentenced supervision: Youth justice supervision (community-based or detention) that occurs when a young person has not been sentenced. May occur when they have been charged with an offence and are awaiting the outcome of their legal matter, or when they have been found guilty in court and are awaiting sentencing.

young person: A person whom a youth justice agency supervises as a result of having committed or allegedly committed an offence.

youth justice detention centre: A place administered and operated by a youth justice agency where young people are detained while under the supervision of the relevant youth justice agency.

youth justice agency: The state or territory government agency or department responsible for youth justice supervision.

youth justice system: The set of processes and practices for managing children and young people who have committed, or allegedly committed, an offence.