Summary
This report analyses 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 criminal activity. It focuses on trends over the 4-year period from the June quarter 2018 to the June quarter 2022.
There were 818 young people in detention on an average night
There were 818 young people in youth detention on an average night in the June quarter 2022. The vast majority (90%) were male. Most young people (81%) were aged 14–17, at a rate of 5.4 per 10,000 young people. The other age groups in this analysis are young people aged 10–13 (5%), or 18 and over (13%).
Almost 4 in 5 (78%) young people in detention on an average night in the June quarter 2022 were unsentenced—that is, they were awaiting the outcome of their court matter or sentencing. The remainder were serving a sentence.
There were small numbers of young people aged 10–13 in detention on an average night
There were 44 young people aged 10–13 in youth detention on an average night in the June quarter 2022. This was a slight decline from 53 in the June quarter 2018.
The rate of young people aged 10–13 in detention on an average night in the June quarter 2022 was 0.3 per 10,000. For young Indigenous Australians aged 10–13 the rate was 4.5 per 10,000 and for young non-Indigenous Australians the rate was 0.1 per 10,000.
About 7% of young Indigenous Australians in detention were aged 10–13. This was lower for young non-Indigenous Australians (3%).
Numbers and rates of young people in detention have fallen over time
Over the 4-year period from the June quarter 2018 to the June quarter 2022, the number of young people in detention on an average night fell from 969 to 818.
The rate of young people aged 10–17 in detention in the June quarter 2022 was 2.8 per 10,000. This rate was lower than in the June quarter 2018 (3.4 per 10,000) and slightly higher than the June quarter 2021 (2.6 per 10,000).
Rates for sentenced detention have fallen over time, and unsentenced detention showed no clear trend
In the June quarter 2022, there were 2.3 per 10,000 young people aged 10–17 in unsentenced detention on an average night, and 0.5 per 10,000 in sentenced detention.
The rate of young people in unsentenced detention fluctuated over time, with no clear trend. The rate was lowest in the September quarter 2020 (1.7 per 10,000), and highest in both the March quarters of 2019 and 2022, and the June quarter 2022 (2.3 per 10,000).
The rate of young people aged 10–17 in sentenced detention in the June quarter 2022 was lower than the June quarter 2018 (0.5 per 10,000 compared with 1.1 per 10,000 young people). These were the lowest and highest rates over the 4-year period.
Over half of those in detention were Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander
Over half (56%, or 461 of 818) of all young people in detention on an average night in the June quarter 2022 were Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander people. Indigenous Australians made up just 6% of the Australian population aged 10–17.
The rate of young Indigenous Australians aged 10–17 in detention on an average night decreased over the 4‑year period, from 34 per 10,000 young Indigenous Australians aged 10–17 in the June quarter 2018 to 29.4 per 10,000 in the June quarter 2022.
However, young Indigenous Australians aged 10–17 were 26 times as likely as young non‑Indigenous Australians to be in detention on an average night in the June quarter 2022, and this fluctuated, at 16–26 times the non-Indigenous rate over the 4‑year period.
Trends vary across the states and territories
The size of the youth detention population fell in New South Wales, Victoria, Western Australia, and South Australia from the June quarter 2018 to the June quarter 2022. In Tasmania, the number of young people in youth detention was small, but down slightly compared to the June quarter 2018. In Queensland and the Northern Territory there was an increase in the number of young people in detention from the June quarter 2021 to the June quarter 2022.