Summary

This bulletin examines the numbers and rates of young people aged 10 and over who were in youth detention in Australia due to their involvement, or alleged involvement, in crime. It focuses on trends over the 4-year period from the June quarter 2012 to the June quarter 2016.

About 900 young people are in detention on an average night

There were 917 young people in youth detention on an average night in the June quarter 2016. Just over half (57%) were unsentenced – that is, they were awaiting the outcome of their court matter or sentencing-and the remainder were serving a sentence.

Most young people (83%) in detention on an average night in the June quarter 2016 were aged 10-17. This equates to 3.3 young people aged 10-17 per 10,000. The other detainees were aged 18 or older.

Detention rates are stable after long-term falls and despite recent rise in numbers

The number of young people in detention on an average night decreased, from a high of 1,069 in the June quarter 2012 to 917 in the June quarter 2016.

The rate of young people aged 10-17 in detention on an average night decreased, from 3.8 per 10,000 to 3.3 per 10,000, over the 4-year period.

Over the most recent year, despite a slight increase in the number of young people (of all ages) in detention on an average night in each quarter (from 877 to 917), the rate of those aged 10-17 in detention remained relatively stable, between 3.1 and 3.4 per 10,000.

Unsentenced and sentenced detention rates have decreased

The rate of young people in unsentenced detention fell slightly over the 4-year period, from 2.4 young people aged 10-17 per 10,000 on an average night in the June quarter 2012, to 2.1 per 10,000 in the June quarter 2016. The rate was lowest in the December quarter 2014 (1.7 per 10,000).

In sentenced detention, the rate was 1.2 young people aged 10-17 per 10,000 on an average night in the June quarter 2016-a decrease from 1.4 per 10,000 in the June quarter 4 years earlier. The rate was highest in the September quarter 2012 (1.5 per 10,000).

Over half of those in detention are Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander

Over half (55%) of all young people in detention on an average night in the June quarter 2016 were Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander. In the June quarter 2016, Indigenous young people aged 10-17 were 26 times as likely as non-Indigenous young people to be in detention; however the level of over-representation fluctuated between 23 times and 28 times over the 4-year period.

Trends vary across the states and territories

There were different trends in the youth detention population across the states and territories. Over the 4-year period, the rate of young people aged 10-17 in detention increased in Victoria and Queensland, showed no clear trend in South Australia and the Northern Territory, and decreased in the remaining states and territories.