Trends in detention
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Key findings
On an average night in the June quarter 2024:
- there were 845 young people in youth detention in Australia
- the rate of young people aged 10–17 in detention was 2.7 per 10,000
- most (683 or 81%) young people in detention were aged 14–17
- 9 in 10 (762 or 90%) young people in detention on an average night were male.
On an average night over the 4-year period from June quarter 2020 to June quarter 2024:
- the number of those young people aged 10 and over increased from 791 to 845
- the rate of those aged 10–17 increased marginally from 2.6 to 2.7 per 10,000.
The number of young people in detention
On an average night in the June quarter 2024, there were 845 young people in youth detention in Australia due to their involvement, or alleged involvement, in crime.
On an average night in the June quarter 2024:
- most (722 or 85%) young people in detention were aged 10–17. Of these, 38 were aged 10–13 and 683 were aged 14–17
- the remainder (123 or 15%) were aged 18 or over (Figure 1.1).
The average nightly population is rounded to whole numbers, so components might not sum to the totals due to rounding (see Technical notes – Rounding).
On an average night in the June quarter 2024:
- the rate of young people aged 10–17 in detention was 2.7 per 10,000, while the rate for young people aged 10–13 was 0.3, and 5.2 for those aged 14–17 (Figure 1.1)
- 9 in 10 (762 or 90%) young people in detention on an average night were male.
Figure 1.1: Young people in detention on an average night, by age group, June quarter 2020 to June quarter 2024 (number and rate)
Interactive graphs show that most young people in detention were aged 10–17 and those aged 14–17 were detained at a higher rate than those aged 10–13.
Notes
- Trend data may differ from those previously published due to data revisions.
- For data extracted from the Youth Justice National Minimum Data Set (YJ NMDS), age is calculated at the start of the relevant quarter unless the period of detention began within the quarter or the young person had a birthday, in which case age is calculated as at the start of that period or from their birthday.
- Rates are the number of young people per 10,000 relevant population.
- Rates for the 10–13 age group in 2023–24 are calculated using the sum of the 12–13 population (Northern Territory and Australian Capital Territory) and the 10–13 population (all remaining jurisdictions) due to these jurisdictions increasing the minimum age of criminal responsibility to 12 during 2023.
- Rates for the 10–17 age group in 2023–24 are calculated using the sum of the 12–17 population (Northern Territory and Australian Capital Territory) and the 10–17 population (all remaining jurisdictions) due to these jurisdictions increasing the minimum age of criminal responsibility to 12 during 2023.
Source: Supplementary tables S11, S12, S13, S14, S15, S16, S17 and S18.
Trends in the number of young people in detention
The number of young people in detention increased from 791 in the June quarter 2020 to 845 in the June quarter 2024. The rate of young people in detention aged 10–17 rose marginally from 2.6 to 2.7 per 10,000.
Both the number and rate of young people in detention were lowest in the September quarter 2020, with the number at 724 and the rate at 2.3 per 10,000.
The rate of young people aged 14–17 in detention followed a similar trend to those aged 10–17, although the rates were slightly higher (Figure 1.1).
For those aged 10–13, the rate of young people in detention on an average night in the June quarter 2024 was 0.3 per 10,000. This was slightly higher than in the June quarter 2020 when the rate was 0.2 per 10,000 (Figure 1.1).
The number of young people in detention on an average night increased in all age groups from the June quarter 2020 to the June quarter 2024, except for those aged 18 or over:
- The number of those aged 10–13 in detention increased slightly over the 4-year period, from 31 to 38.
- The number of young people aged 14–17 in detention increased from 597 to 683 and was lowest in the September quarter 2020 (538). This age group drove an overall increase in the number of young people aged 10–17 in detention, from 629 to 722 over the 4-year period.
- Those aged 18 or over showed a steady decline from 162 to 123 young people over the 4-year period (Figure 1.1).
Young males were far more likely to be in detention on an average night than females. This was the case in all quarters throughout the 4-year period for males aged 10 and over (89% to 92%). However, for young people aged 10–13 there was a slightly lower proportion of males in detention on an average night (75% to 89%).