Trends in the youth detention
The first graph in this figure shows that more young people in detention were unsentenced than sentenced over the 4-year period. The number of young people in sentenced detention declined overall from the June quarter 2019. The number of young people in unsentenced detention tended to be higher in the March and June quarters each year and lower in September and December quarters. The exception was the June quarter 2020 where the rate was lower.
The second graph in this figure shows that the proportion of young Indigenous Australians in detention was slightly lower than young non‑Indigenous Australians on an average night between the December quarter 2019 to the December quarter 2020. This difference was greatest in the September quarter 2020.
The third graph in this figure shows that over the 4-year period, the level of Indigenous over‑representation in detention fluctuated, at a rate 16–26 times the non-Indigenous rate.
