Youth justice in Australia 2021-22

This fact sheet summarises key findings of young people under youth justice supervision for Western Australia, including the number and rate of young people under community-based supervision and in detention. It also summarises data on young people by age, sex, Indigenous status, legal status, time under supervision and contains trends.

Number and rate

On an average day in 2021–22, in Western Australia:

• 568 young people aged 10 and over were under youth justice supervision (Table S133a)
• 4 in 5 (80%) were supervised in the community (Table S133b), and 21% in detention (Table S133c) (the proportion of young people under community-based supervision and in detention may not sum to 100% as young people may have been under community-based supervision and in detention on the same day)
• The rate of supervision was 17 per 10,000 young people aged 10–17 (Table S134a)
• 14 per 10,000 young people aged 10–17 were under community-based supervision (Table S134b), and 3.8 per 10,000 were in detention (Table S134c).

Age and sex

On an average day in 2021–22, in Western Australia:

• 86% of those under supervision were aged 10–17, and the rest were 18 and over
• 82% of those under supervision were male
• males under supervision were most likely to be aged 17, and females aged 16 (Table S133a).
   

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people

On an average day in 2021–22, in Western Australia:

• Indigenous young people made up 6.4% of those aged 10–17 in the general population, but 64% (or 309) of those of the same age under supervision (tables S133a and S144)
• A slightly lower proportion of Indigenous young people aged 10–17 were under community-based supervision (60% or 232) and a higher proportion in detention (76% or 80) (tables S133b and S133c)
• Indigenous young people aged 10–17 were about 25 times as likely as non-Indigenous young people to be under supervision (172 per 10,000 compared with 6.8 per 10,000) (Table S134a)
• Indigenous over-representation was lower in community-based supervision (22 times the non-Indigenous rate) compared with detention (47 times the non‑Indigenous rate) (tables S134b and S134c).

Time under supervision

In 2021–22, in Western Australia:

• completed periods of supervision lasted a median length of 39 days (almost 6 weeks) (Table S29)
• when all time spent under supervision during the year is considered, young people spent an average of 148 days (21 weeks) under supervision (Table S30).

Sentenced and unsentenced detention

On an average day in 2021–22, in Western Australia:

• More than 3 in 5 (62%) young people in detention were unsentenced—that is, they were awaiting the outcome of their court matter, or had been found guilty and were awaiting sentencing
• 38% of the young people in detention were serving a sentence (Table S108a).

Trends to 2021–22

Over the 5 years to 2021–22, on an average day, in Western Australia:

• the number of young people under supervision fell by 28% (from 786 in 2017–18 to 568 in 2021–22) (Table S133a), while the rate fell from 27 to 17 per 10,000 young people aged 10–17 (Table S12a)
• in community-based supervision, the number fell by 29% (Table S133b), while the rate fell from 22 to 14 per 10,000 (Table S45a)
• in detention, the number fell by 23% (Table S133c), and the rate fell from 5.4 to 3.8 per 10,000 (Table S83a)
• the rate for young Indigenous people under supervision fell from 262 to 172 per 10,000 (Table S12a).
   

More information

This fact sheet is part of the Youth justice in Australia 2021–22 release, which includes a report, state and territory fact sheets, and supplementary data tables.

Together, these provide comprehensive information about young people under youth justice supervision in Australia due to their involvement, or alleged involvement, in crime.

For more information see the Youth justice topic.