Youth justice in Australia 2024–25

As with community-based supervision, young people may be detained when they are unsentenced or sentenced. Some young people may also be in unsentenced and sentenced detention on the same day. This can occur when the young person has changed legal status or has both types of legal orders at the same time for different legal matters.

Number and rate

Young people may be referred to unsentenced detention either by the police (pre-court) or by a court (remand). Young people enter remand when they have been either:

• charged with an offence and are awaiting the outcome of their court matter
• found guilty, or have pleaded guilty, and are awaiting sentencing. 

Young people enter police-referred pre-court detention before their initial court appearance. Police-referred pre-court detention is not available in all states and territories and most young people in unsentenced detention are on remand.

On an average day in 2024–25, of all young people in detention aged 10 and over, 4 in 5 were unsentenced (80%) (Figure 6.1). In all states and territories, a substantial proportion of those in detention on an average day were unsentenced – ranging from 60% in Victoria to 100% in the Northern Territory (Table 108a).

The lower proportion in Victoria (60%) is largely due to the state’s ‘dual track’ sentencing system, which allows some young people aged 18–20 to be sentenced to detention in a youth facility rather than in an adult prison if the young person is particularly impressionable, immature or likely to be subject to undesirable influences in adult prison. When only young people aged 10–17 are considered, a similar proportion of those in detention in Victoria and nationally on an average day were unsentenced (86% and 87%, respectively) (Table S109a).

More than 9 in 10 (97%) young people who were in detention during 2024–25 had been in unsentenced detention at some time during the year. This highlights the typically shorter duration of periods of unsentenced detention compared with sentenced detention (Table 108b). 

On an average day in 2024–25, more than 4 in 5 (84%) First Nations young people in detention aged 10 and over were unsentenced (Table S108a). Almost all (98%) of First Nations young people in detention during 2024–25 had been in unsentenced detention at some time during the year (Table S108b).

For non-Indigenous young people, this proportion was 3 in 4 (75%) (Table S108a).  More than 9 in 10 (95%) of non-Indigenous young people in detention during 2024–25 had been in unsentenced detention at some time during 2024–25(Table S108b),

A similar proportion of First Nations and non-Indigenous young people aged 10–17 who had been in detention through the year, had been in unsentenced detention at some point during the year (99% and 98% respectively) (S109b).

Nationally, on an average day in 2024–25, most (97%) young people aged 10 and over in unsentenced detention were on remand, awaiting the outcome of their court matters (Table S108a). The remainder were in police-referred pre-court detention awaiting their initial court appearance (see Glossary for definitions), which was available in some jurisdictions (New South Wales, Queensland, Western Australia, South Australia and the Australian Capital Territory).

In those states and territories where the data was available, the proportion of young people in police-referred pre-court detention ranged from 12% of those who had been in unsentenced detention during the year in Queensland to 83% of those in the Australian Capital Territory (Table S108b).

Three-in-five (60%) young people in unsentenced detention aged 10 and over on an average day were First Nations (Table S108a). This proportion varied substantially among the states and territories, from 15% in Victoria to 93% in the Northern Territory (Table S108a).

The rate of young people aged 10–17 in unsentenced detention on an average day in 
2024–25 was 2.4 per 10,000 (Figure 6.2). Among the states and territories, this rate was lowest in Victoria (1.0 per 10,000) and highest in the Northern Territory (15.4 per 10,000) (Table s110a).

Rates of unsentenced detention on an average day were higher than sentenced detention in all states and territories.

Completion of periods

Of remand periods (unsentenced detention) that ended in 2024–25, 3 in 5 (60%) ended because the young person was released on bail (Figure 6.3; Table S118).

The proportion of remand periods that ended with release on bail was lowest in the Northern Territory (15%) and highest in Western Australia (84%) (Table S118).

Almost 2 in 5 (38%) remand periods ended because they were completed (see Glossary) (Table S118). This was higher for First Nations young people than non-Indigenous young people (44% and 30%, respectively). The remaining periods ended for other reasons, including transfer (which can include transfer to another youth detention centre, the adult system or interstate) (Table S118).