Trends in sentenced and unsentenced detention
Key findings
On an average night in the June quarter 2025:
- almost 3 in 4 (597 or 72%) young people in detention were unsentenced
- the rate of young people aged 10–17 in unsentenced detention was 2.1 per 10,000 and in sentenced detention 0.6 per 10,000.
On an average night from the June quarter 2021 to the June quarter 2025:
- the proportion of those in unsentenced detention remained steady
- the number of young people in sentenced detention increased by 6.3%.
Northern Territory youth detention population data by legal status were not available between September quarter 2024 and June quarter 2025. This section therefore uses the Australia total excluding the Northern Territory.
The number of young people in unsentenced detention
On an average night in the June quarter 2025:
- 3 in 4 (597 or 72%) young people in detention were unsentenced
- the rate of young people aged 10–17 in unsentenced detention was 2.1 per 10,000.
Over the 4-year period from the June quarter 2021 to the June quarter 2025:
- the proportion of those in unsentenced detention remained steady
- the rate of young people aged 10–17 in unsentenced detention remained steady from 2.0 to 2.1 per 10,000
- the rate of young people in unsentenced detention tended to be higher in the March and June quarters, and lower in the September and December quarters. (Figure 3.1).
Over the one-year period from June quarter 2024 to June quarter 2025:
- the number of young people in unsentenced detention increased marginally from 590 to 597.
- the rate of young people aged 10–17 in unsentenced detention rose slightly from 2.0 to 2.1 per 10,000 (Figure 3.1).
The number of young people in sentenced detention
On an average night in the June quarter 2025:
- more than 1 in 4 (238 or 28%) young people in detention were sentenced
- the rate of young people aged 10–17 in sentenced detention was 0.6 per 10,000 (Figure 3.1).
Over the 4–year period from the June quarter 2021 to the June quarter 2025:
- the number of young people in sentenced detention increased slightly from 224 to 238, with a low in the September quarter 2023 (158, or 22%) (Supplementary tables S11 and S47, Figure 3.1)
- the rate of young people in sentenced detention remained steady at 0.5 per 10,000 young people in June quarter 2021, and 0.6 per 10,000 in June quarter 2025 (Figure 3.1).
Over the one-year period from the June quarter 2024 to the June quarter 2025:
- the number of young people in sentenced detention increased from 194 to 238 (Figure 3.1)
- increased from 194 to 238 (Figure 3.1)
- the rate of young people aged 10–17 in sentenced detention remained steady from 0.5 to 0.6 per 10,000 young people (Supplementary table S54, Figure 3.1).
Figure 3.1 Young people in detention on an average night, by legal status, June quarter 2021 to June quarter 2025 (number and rate)
The number of young people in unsentenced detention varied more each quarter, while the number in sentenced detention was more stable.
Notes:
- Data for the figures presenting numbers includes those young people aged 10 and over, data for the rate figures includes young people aged 10–17.
- Figures presenting data excluding the Northern Territory, exclude Northern Territory data for the entire 4–year period.
- Northern Territory data for legal status is unavailable for 2023–24.
- Trend data may differ from those previously published due to data revisions.
- Rates are the number of young people per 10,000 relevant population.
- 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.
- 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 S29, S36, S47 and S54.
Young people in sentenced and unsentenced detention by age group
On an average night in the June quarter 2025:
- a higher proportion of those in unsentenced detention were aged 10–17 (94%) than in sentenced detention (63%) (Supplementary tables S29, S32, S47 and S50)
- 5.9% of those in unsentenced detention were aged 18 or over compared to 37% of those in sentenced detention (Supplementary tables S29, S33, S47 and S51).
The proportion of young people aged 10–17 in unsentenced detention was consistently higher than in sentenced detention throughout the 4–year period (from the June quarter 2021 to the June quarter 2025):
- in unsentenced detention, the percentage of those who were aged 10–17 increased from 89% to 94% across the 4–year period
- in sentenced detention, the percentage of those who were aged 10–17 increased from 56% to 71% across the 4–year period, with a low in the June quarter 2021 and a high in the March quarter 2024 (Supplementary tables S29, S32, S47, and S50).
Additionally, in the June quarter 2025, 6.9% of young people in unsentenced detention were aged 10–13, with no young people aged 10–13 in sentenced detention. These proportions fluctuated over the 4–year period from the June quarter 2021 to the June quarter 2025 for unsentenced detention (5.0 % to 7.1%) and sentenced detention (0.0% to 0.9%) (Supplementary tables S29, S30, S47, S48).
One reason more young people aged 18 and over are in sentenced detention than in unsentenced detention, is that some young people may continue serving a sentence in a youth facility once they turn 18. Whether they remain in youth detention or are moved to the adult justice system depends on different policies and practices in the relevant states and territories.
For example, in Victoria, 53% to 89% of young people in sentenced detention were aged 18 or over in each quarter over the 4–year period (from June quarter 2021 to June quarter 2025), compared with 29% to 44% in Australia overall. This is in part due to the ‘dual track’ sentencing system operating in Victoria, which results in a relatively large proportion of young people aged 18 and over in sentenced detention (see Understanding youth detention in Australia for more details).
Young people in sentenced and unsentenced detention by sex
On an average night in the June quarter 2025, comparatively more females (91%) than males (70%) were in unsentenced detention (Supplementary tables S29 and S11). This was the case in each quarter throughout the 4–year period (from June quarter 2021 to June quarter 2025), with:
- an increase of 75% to 91% of females in unsentenced detention across the 4–year period
- the proportion of males in unsentenced detention remaining stable at 70% across the four–year period.
Conversely, males (30%) were more likely than females (9.4%) to be in sentenced detention on an average night in the June quarter 2025 (Supplementary tables S47 and S11). These results should be interpreted with caution due to the small number of females in detention.
Over the 4–year period, the proportion of males in sentenced detention remained steady at 30% in June quarter 2021 and June quarter 2025. While the corresponding proportion of females decreased, with an overall decrease from 21% to 9.4%.