Western Australia

Quick facts

On an average day in 2020–21, in Western Australia:

  • 548 young people aged 10 and over were under youth justice supervision
  • 17 per 10,000 young people aged 10–17 were under supervision
  • Indigenous young people were 20 times as likely as non-Indigenous young people to be under supervision.

Of those under supervision on an average day in Western Australia:

  • 81% were supervised in the community, and the rest in detention
  • 84% were male
  • 3 in 5 (60%) of those aged 10–17 identified as being of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander origin
  • 59% of those in detention were unsentenced (awaiting the outcome of their court matter or sentencing), and 42% were serving a sentence.

Young people spent an average of 22 weeks under supervision during the year.

Over the 5 years to 2020–21, the number of young people under supervision on an average day fell by 30%, while the rate for those aged 10–17 fell from 27 to 17 per 10,000.

Impact of COVID-19 on youth justice data

This report includes data from March 2020 to June 2021, which coincides with the presence of COVID-19 in Australia. However, the direct impact of COVID-19 and related social restrictions on the number of young people under youth justice supervision is difficult to determine due to a range of factors including:

  • variability of the data
  • variations in state-based legislation, policy and practice
  • small numbers of young people under youth justice supervision on an average night.

More research is required in order to better understand the impact of COVID-19 and related social restrictions on youth justice supervision across Australia.

Number and rate

On an average day in 2020–21, in Western Australia:

  • 548 young people aged 10 and over were under youth justice supervision (Table S132a)
  • around 4 in 5 (81%) were supervised in the community, and the rest (19%) in detention (Table S132)
  • the rate of supervision was 17 per 10,000 young people aged 10–17 (Table S133a)
  • 14 per 10,000 young people aged 10–17 were under community-based supervision (Table S133b), and 3.6 per 10,000 were in detention (Table S133b).

Age and sex

On an average day in 2020–21, in Western Australia:

  • 83% of those under supervision were aged 10–17, and the rest were 18 and over
  • 84% of those under supervision were male
  • males under supervision were most likely to be aged 17, and females aged 15 (Table S132a).

 

WA Figure 1: Number of young people under supervision on an average day by age, sex and Indigenous status 2020-21

This population pyramid shows the age, sex and Indigenous status under supervision, community-based supervision and detention for Western Australia. The age distribution of males and females was broadly similar, however males under supervision were slightly older on average than females. The largest number of males under supervision were aged 17, while for females they were aged 15. Very few males and females under supervision were aged 13 and under.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people

On an average day in 2020–21, in Western Australia:

  • Indigenous young people made up 6.7% of those aged 10–17 in the general population, but 60% (or 272) of those of the same age under supervision (tables S132a and S143)
  • a slightly lower proportion of Indigenous young people aged 10–17 were under community-based supervision (56% or 202) and a proportion in detention (76% or 73) (tables S132b and S132c)
  • Indigenous young people aged 10–17 were 21 times as likely as non-Indigenous young people to be under supervision (153 per 10,000 compared with 7.3 per 10,000) (Table S133a)
  • Indigenous over-representation was lower in community-based supervision (18 times the non-Indigenous rate) and higher in detention (43 times the non‑Indigenous rate) (tables S133b and S133c).

Time under supervision

In 2020–21, in Western Australia:

  • the median duration of individual periods of supervision that were completed during the year was 90 days (almost 13 weeks) (Table S29)
  • when all time spent under supervision during the year is considered, young people spent an average of 154 days (22 weeks) under supervision (Table S30).

Sentenced and unsentenced detention

On an average day in 2020–21, in Western Australia:

  • 3 in 5 (59%) young people in detention were unsentenced—that is, they were awaiting the outcome of their court matter, or had been found guilty and were awaiting sentencing
  • 42% of the young people in detention were serving a sentence (the proportion of unsentenced and sentenced young people on an average day does not sum to 100% as young people may have changed legal status during the same day) (Table S107a).

Trends to 2020–21

Over the 5 years to 2020–21, on an average day, in Western Australia:

  • the number of young people under supervision fell by 30% (from 781 in 2016–17 to 549 in 2020–21) (Table S11a), while the rate fell from 27 to 17 per 10,000 young people aged 10–17 (Table S12a)
  • in community-based supervision, the number fell by 30% (Table S44a), while the rate fell from 22 to 14 per 10,000 (Table S45a)
  • in detention, the number fell by 28% (Table S82a), and the rate fell from 5.2 to 3.6 per 10,000 (Table S83a)
  • the rate for young Indigenous people under supervision fell from 265 to 153 per 10,000 (Table S12a).

 

WA Figure 2: Number and rate of young people under supervision on an average day, by supervision type, 2016–17 to 2020–21

This line graph shows the number and rate of young people under supervision, community-based supervision and detention over the 5 years from 2016–17 to 2020–21 for Western Australia. It shows an overall decline in the rate under supervision, community-based supervision and detention.

More information

This fact sheet is part of the Youth justice in Australia 2020–21 release, which includes a report, state and territory fact sheets, and supplementary data tables.

Together, these provide comprehensive information about young people under youth justice supervision in Australia due to their involvement, or alleged involvement, in crime.

For more information see the Youth justice topic.