Youth justice in Australia 2023–24

Overview

The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) uses 'First Nations people' to refer to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in this report.

First Nations people have a long history of over-representation in the youth and adult justice systems in Australia (House of Representatives Standing Committee on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs 2011; Johnston 1991). It is important to understand how the past shapes the lives of First Nations Australians today: they have a long history of trauma, cultural dispossession, and forced displacement and assimilation, which affects their physical, mental and social wellbeing.

Disconnection from family and kinship systems, from Country, from spirituality and cultural practices, as well as the loss of parenting practices, are sources of trauma that can be passed from caregiver to child. First Nations Australians' experience of child welfare policies has historically been traumatic, with the policy of forcible removal of children leading to what is now known as the Stolen Generations.

These removal policies have long-term consequences, not just for those who were removed but also their descendants, including enduring social, physical and psychological impacts for those directly involved and their families and communities (AIHW 2018, 2019). The overrepresentation of First Nations children in juvenile justice systems reflects this history of trauma and the stressors that have affected their parents, families and communities.