Detention entries and exits
In this report:
- a 'reception' is when a young person enters detention (either sentenced or unsentenced), having not been detained immediately before
- a 'release' is when a young person leaves detention and is not detained immediately afterwards.
That is, to account for young people transported to court who return to detention after their court hearing, and young people transferred between detention centres, the start of a detention period is considered a reception only when it starts at least 2 full days after the end of the previous detention period.
Similarly, the end of a detention period is considered a release only when it ends at least 2 full days before the start of the next detention period. A change in legal status – for example, from unsentenced to sentenced detention within 2 days – is not counted as a new reception.
A release from detention comprises young people being released either to community-based supervision (such as on parole or supervised release) or out of youth justice supervision altogether (on sentence completion).
There may be a small number of young people who are counted as having a reception or release if their travel time is longer than 2 full days when travelling to and from remote locations.
Receptions
In 2023–24, 4,242 young people experienced 8,837 receptions into detention (tables S103a and S103b). Among all young people in detention in 2023–24, 93% were received at some point during the year, with an average of about 2 receptions per young person, reflecting the short durations of detention periods. The rest were received in a previous year (tables S72b and S103b).
Almost half (47%) of young people who were received into detention during the year were received more than once (Table S105). First Nations young people (52%) were more likely than non-Indigenous young people (42%) to have been received into detention more than once.
Most receptions (98%) were for young people entering unsentenced detention, which consists of police-referred pre-court detention and remand (Table S103a).
Just over two-thirds of receptions (71%) were for remand, just under one-third (27%) were for police‑referred pre-court detention and 1.9% were for sentenced detention.
About 1 in 6 (17%) young people in sentenced detention during 2023–24 were received during the year (tables S103b and S108b). This indicates that the rest were either received into sentenced detention in a previous year, or were in unsentenced detention immediately before they began their period of sentenced detention (and their sentenced period started within 2 days of their non-sentenced period ending).
Releases
In 2023–24, 4,364 young people experienced 8,764 releases from detention. The vast majority of young people (95%) who were detained during the year were released at least once, with an average of 2 releases per young person (tables S72b, S104a and S104b). Similar to receptions, 90% of releases were from unsentenced detention. About 3 in 4 releases (73%) were from remand and 17% were from police-referred pre-court detention. The proportion of releases from sentenced detention (8.8%) was higher than the proportion of receptions to sentenced detention (1.9%) (tables S103a and S104a).
In 2023–24, the numbers of receptions and releases were closely aligned each month, despite some fluctuations (Figure 6.6). The highest number of receptions (814) and the highest number for releases (809) occurred in August 2023.
Figure 6.6: Monthly trends in youth detention receptions and releases, Australia, 2023–24
An interactive chart shows that the number of receptions and releases from youth detention varied each month, ranging from around 700 to 800 receptions and releases per month during 2023–24.
Source: Table S107.