About this report
This report presents information about young people in Australia who were under youth justice supervision during 2024–25, both in the community and in detention. It looks at the characteristics of these young people, key aspects of their supervision, and recent trends. It is based on data from the YJ NMDS for all states and territories in Australia.
Numbers in this report include young people of all ages (including those aged 18 and over) unless otherwise specified. Proportions presented in this report are calculated using numbers presented in the report and/or supplementary tables. Population rates are calculated only for young people aged 10–17, as this is the main age group for youth justice supervision in most states and territories. Please see Appendix A: data quality and technical notes for the impact of COVID-19 and the minimum age of criminal responsibility on population rates.
This report includes data from March 2020 to June 2022, which coincides with the presence of COVID-19 in Australia. However, the direct impact of COVID-19 and related social restrictions on the number of young people under youth justice supervision is difficult to determine due to a range of factors. For more information on the impact of COVID-19 on youth justice data see Appendix A.
All data presented in this report are available through the online supplementary tables: Youth justice in Australia 2024–25, Data.
Average daily data, broken down by age, will not be comparable with data in Youth justice in Australia releases before 2019–20. For more information on the calculation of age, see Appendix A.