Trends of young people in sentenced and unsentenced detention
Northern Territory youth detention population data by legal status were not available between September quarter 2023 and June quarter 2024. This section therefore uses the Australia total excluding the Northern Territory.
From the June quarter 2020 to the June quarter 2024, the proportion of those in unsentenced detention increased from 64% to 74% while the proportion of those in sentenced detention decreased from 36% to 26%.
In the June quarter 2024, there were 2.0 per 10,000 young people aged 10–17 in unsentenced detention on an average night, and 0.6 per 10,000 in sentenced detention.
The rate of young people in unsentenced detention fluctuated over time. It was lowest in the September quarter 2020 (1.7 per 10,000), and highest in the June quarter 2022 (2.1 per 10,000).
The rate of young people aged 10–17 in sentenced detention changed slightly over time. It was lowest in the March quarter 2022 (0.4 per 10,000) and highest in the June quarter 2020 (0.6 per 10,000).
For more information see Trends in sentenced and unsentenced detention.