Trends in detention

On this page In this section

Key findings The number of young people in detention Trends in the number of young people in detention

Key findings

On an average night in the June quarter 2025:

  • there were 884 young people in youth detention in Australia
  • the rate of young people aged 10–17 in detention was 2.8 per 10,000
  • most (718 or 81%) young people in detention were aged 14–17
  • 9 in 10 (805 or 91%) young people in detention on an average night were male.

On an average night over the 4–year period from June quarter 2021 to June quarter 2025: 

  • the number of those young people in detention aged 10 and over increased from 809 to 884
  • the rate of those aged 10–17 in detention remained steady from 2.7 to 2.8 per 10,000.

The number of young people in detention

Of the 884 young people in youth detention on an average night in the June quarter 2025:

  • most (761 or 86%) young people in detention were aged 10–17. Of these, 44 were aged 10–13 and 718 were aged 14–17
  • the remainder (123 or 14%) 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).

On an average night in the June quarter 2025:

  • the rate of young people aged 10–17 in detention was 2.8 per 10,000, while the rate for young people aged 10–13 was 0.3, and 5.3 for those aged 14–17 (Figure 1.1).
  • 9 in 10 (805 or 91%) 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 2021 to June quarter 2025 (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.

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:

  1. Trend data may differ from those previously published due to data revisions.
  2. For data extracted from the 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.
  3. Rates are the number of young people per 10,000 relevant population.
  4. 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.
  5. Rates for the 10–13 age group in 2024–25 are calculated using the sum of the 12–17 population (Australian Capital Territory) and the 10–13 population (all remaining jurisdictions).
  6. 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.
  7. Rates for the 10–17 age group in 2024–25 are calculated using the sum of the 12–17 population (Australian Capital Territory) and the 10–17 population (all remaining jurisdictions).

Source: Supplementary tables S11, S12, S13, S14, S15, S16, S17 and S18.

The average number of young people in detention rose from 809 in the June quarter 2021 to 884 in the June quarter 2025. The rate of young people in detention aged 10–17 remained steady from 2.7 to 2.8 per 10,000.

The average number of young people in detention was lowest in the December quarter 2023, at an average of 769. The rate of young people in detention was lowest in the December quarter 2024 at 2.4 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 the same as the rate in June 2021 (0.3 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 2021 to the June quarter 2025, except for those aged 18 or over:

  • The number of young people aged 10–13 in detention remained stable over the 4–year period, from 40 to 44.
  • The number of young people aged 14–17 in detention increased from 629 to 718 and was lowest in the December quarter 2021 (at 617). This age group drove an overall increase in the number of young people aged 10–17 in detention, from 669 to 761 over the 4–year period.
  • Those aged 18 or over showed a slight decline from 141 to 122 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 (90%–91%). However, for young people aged 10–13, the proportion of males in detention on an average night was slightly lower (77%–90%).

Previous page
Next page