Youth justice in Australia 2023–24

This section summarises key findings of young people under youth justice supervision for New South Wales, 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 2023–24, in New South Wales:

• 1,007 young people aged 10 and over were under youth justice supervision (Table S126a)
• about 4 in 5 (79%) were supervised in the community (Table S126b), and the rest (22%) in detention (Table S126c) (proportions might not sum to 100%, as young people may be under community-based supervision and in detention on the same day)
• the rate of supervision was 11 per 10,000 young people aged 10–17 (Table S127a)
• 8.8 per 10,000 young people aged 10–17 were under community-based supervision (Table S127b), and 2.1 per 10,000 were in detention (Table S127c).

Age and sex

On an average day in 2023–24, in New South Wales:

• 89% 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 S126a; Figure 11.1).

Figure 11.1: Number of young people under supervision (any type) on an average day, by age, sex and Indigenous status, New South Wales, 2023–24

Notes

1. Age categories are not presented where they represent averages that are equal to or rounded to 0.0.
2. Total includes young people of unknown age, sex and Indigenous status.
3. Number of young people under community-based supervision and in detention may not sum to total number under supervision as young people may be under community-based supervision and in detention on the same day and may be in different age groups.
4. Age on an average day is calculated based on the age a young person is each day that they are under supervision. If a young person changes age during a period of supervision, then the average daily number under supervision will reflect this. Average daily data broken down by age will not be comparable to Youth justice in Australia releases prior to 2019–20.
5. The equivalent 'during the year' table or unique counts of young people is not published due to small numbers, confidentiality, and/or reliability concerns.

Source: Youth Justice National Minimum Data Set 2023–24

First Nations young people

On an average day in 2023–24, in New South Wales:

• First Nations young people made up 7.5% of those aged 10–17 in the general population, but 56% (or 498) of those of the same age under supervision (tables S126a and S143)
• a similar proportion of First Nations young people aged 10–17 to non- Indigenous young people were under community-based supervision (54% or 387) but a higher proportion were in detention (65% or 115) (tables S126b and S126c)
• First Nations young people aged 10–17 were 17 times as likely as non-Indigenous young people to be under youth justice supervision (80 per 10,000 compared with 4.8 per 10,000) (Table S127a)
• First Nations over-representation was 16 times the non-Indigenous rate in community-based supervision but was higher in detention (23 times the non-Indigenous rate) (tables S127b and S127c).

Time under supervision

In 2023–24, in New South Wales:

• completed periods of supervision lasted a median length of 6 days (Table S29)
• when all time spent under supervision during the year is considered, young people spent an average of 152 days (nearly 22 weeks) under supervision (Table S30).

Sentenced and unsentenced detention

On an average day in 2023–24, in New South Wales:

• about 3 in 4 (76%) 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
• 25% of young people in detention were serving a sentence (proportions might not sum to 100%, as young people may be in sentenced and unsentenced detention on the same day) (Table S108a).

Trends to 2023–24

Over the 5 years to 2023–24, on an average day, in New South Wales:

• the number of young people under supervision fell by 23% (from 1,301 in 2019–20 to 1,007 in 2023–24) (Table S126a), while the rate fell from 15 to 11 per 10,000 young people aged 10–17 (Figure 11.2; Table S15a)
• in community-based supervision, the number fell by 24% (Table S126b), while the rate fell from 12 to 8.8 per 10,000 (Figure 11.2; Table S48a)
• in detention, the number fell by 15% (Table S126c), while the rate fell from 2.5 to 2.1 per 10,000 (Figure 11.2; Table S86a)
• the rate for First Nations young people under supervision fell from 89 to 80 per 10,000 (Table S12a).

Figure 11.2: Rate of young people aged 10–17 under supervision on an average day, by supervision type, New South Wales, 2019–20 to 2023–24

Notes

1. Total includes young people of unknown age, sex and Indigenous status.
2. Number of young people under community-based supervision and in detention may not sum to total number under supervision as young people may be under community-based supervision and in detention on the same day and may be in different age groups.
3. Age on an average day is calculated based on the age a young person is each day that they are under supervision. If a young person changes age during a period of supervision, then the average daily number under supervision will reflect this. Average daily data broken down by age will not be comparable to Youth justice in Australia releases prior to 2019–20.
4. The equivalent 'during the year' table or unique counts of young people is not published due to due to small numbers, confidentiality, and/or reliability concerns.
5. Rates are number of young people per 10,000 relevant population.

Source: Youth Justice National Minimum Data Set (YJ NMDS) 2023–24

More information

This overview is part of the Youth justice in Australia 2023–24 release, which includes a report 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 topic Youth justice.