Summary
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Availability of Northern Territory data for 2023–24 and 2024–25 About 4,100 young people aged 10 and over were under supervision on an average day Most young people were supervised in the community The majority of young people in detention were unsentenced Young people spent an average of 6 months under supervision Supervision rates varied among the states and territories The average daily numbers and rates of young people under community supervision have fallen over the 5 years to 2024–25, and increased for young people in detention over the same period The rate of First Nations young people under supervision has increased over the 5 years to 2024-25. Young people in remote areas were more likely to be under supervision Young people from lower socioeconomic areas were more likely to be under supervision About 1 in 3 young people were new to supervision First Nations young people were younger when they entered supervision than non‑Indigenous young peopleThis report looks at young people who were under youth justice supervision in Australia during 2024–25 due to their involvement or alleged involvement in crime. It explores the key aspects of supervision, both in the community and in detention, as well as recent trends. Some data are included from the period during which COVID-19 and related social restrictions were present in Australia, specifically between March 2020 and June 2022.
Availability of Northern Territory data for 2023–24 and 2024–25
The following data were not available for the Northern Territory in 2023–24 and 2024–25:
- All supervision (average day).
- Community-based supervision (average day).
- Orders.
- Completed supervision periods (all supervision and community-based supervision).
- Average length of time spent under supervision during the year (all supervision and community-based supervision).
The Australia total for these measures exclude the Northern Territory for both numbers and rates per 10,000.
Impact of changes to the age of criminal responsibility on rates
In this report, rates are usually calculated for young people aged 10–17. In 2023, the Australian Capital Territory raised the minimum age of criminal responsibility from 10 to 12. This means that 10 and 11-year-olds cannot be held criminally responsible for their conduct in the Australian Capital Territory and are not within the scope of youth justice data from 2023-24 onwards.
In 2023, the Northern Territory raised the minimum age of criminal responsibility from 10 to 12. This means that 10 and 11-year-olds cannot be held criminally responsible for their conduct in the Northern Territory during 2023–24 and were excluded from the scope of youth justice data during this time. In October 2024, the Northern Territory lowered the minimum age of criminal responsibility from 12 to 10. This means that 10 and 11-year-olds can be held criminally responsible for their conduct in the Northern Territory during 2024–25 and were within the scope of youth justice data during this time.
2024–25 rates
To account for the increased age of criminal responsibility in the Australian Capital Territory across the 2024–25 reference period, the Australian Capital Territory rates are for young people aged 12–17 (instead of 10–17) as 10 and 11-year-olds are absent from both the number (numerator) and population (denominator) used to calculate rates. The national rates for Australia in 2024–25 use the sum of the 12–17 population for the Australian Capital Territory, and the 10–17 population for all other jurisdictions. All rates prior to 2023–24 use the 10–17 population for all jurisdictions and Australia.
2023–24 rates
To account for the increased age of criminal responsibility in these jurisdictions across the 2023–24 reference period, the rates for the Australian Capital Territory and Northern Territory in 2023–24 are for young people aged 12–17 (instead of 10–17) as 10 and 11-year-olds are absent from both the number (numerator) and population (denominator) used to calculate rates. The rates for Australia in 2023–24 use the sum of the 12–17 population for the Australian Capital Territory and Northern Territory, and the 10–17 population for all other jurisdictions. All rates prior to 2023–24 use the 10–17 population for all jurisdictions and Australia.
Use caution when comparing rates across reference years
Note that care should be taken when comparing the 2024–25 and 2023–24 rates with prior years for the Australian Capital Territory and Northern Territory. The exclusion of 10 and 11-year-olds for these jurisdictions in 2023–24 reduced the total in-scope population (denominator) by about 25%, causing rates to appear higher than in prior years. For 2024–25, the Northern Territory total in-scope population increased by 38%, causing rates to appear lower than in 2023–24. Further, in the Northern Territory, 10‑ and 11‑year‑olds were only within scope for youth justice data for part of the 2024–25 reporting period (from October 2024).
When reporting rates at the state and territory level, this report presents rates for young people aged 12–17 (for the Australian Capital Territory and Northern Territory in 2023–24), separate to rates for young people aged 10–17 (for all other jurisdictions).
About 4,100 young people aged 10 and over were under supervision on an average day
A total of 4,147 young people aged 10 and over were under youth justice supervision on an average day in 2024–25 and 9,579 young people were supervised at some time during the year.
Nearly all young people (97%) under youth justice supervision on an average day were aged 14 and over. This was similar for community-based supervision (97%) and detention (95%).
Among those aged 10–17 under youth justice supervision, the rate of youth justice supervision on an average day in 2024–25 was 12 per 10,000.
Most young people were supervised in the community
Just over 4 in 5 (81%) young people under supervision on an average day were supervised in the community, and 1 in 5 (21%) were in detention. (The number of young people under all supervision will not equal the sum of community-based supervision and detention because young people can be in both types of supervision on the same day).
The majority of young people in detention were unsentenced
Four in 5 (80%) young people in detention on an average day were unsentenced – that is, awaiting the outcome of their legal matter or sentencing.
Young people spent an average of 6 months under supervision
Individual periods of supervision that were completed during 2024–25 lasted for a median of 84 days or about 3 months. (This includes time under supervision before 1 July 2024 if the period started before that date.)
When all time spent under supervision during 2024–25 is considered (including multiple periods and periods that were not yet completed), young people who were supervised during the year spent an average of 177 days (about 6 months) under supervision.
Supervision rates varied among the states and territories
In this report, rates and proportions for small states and territories should be interpreted with caution as they may represent a very small number of young people.
Rates of youth justice supervision varied among the states and territories, reflecting, in part, the differences in legislation, policies and practices between each state and territory.
In 2024–25, the rate of young people aged 10–17 under supervision on an average day ranged from 4.5 per 10,000 in Victoria to 20 per 10,000 in Tasmania.
In 2024–25, the rate of young people aged 12–17 under supervision on an average day in the Australian Capital Territory was 19 per 10,000. Note that rates in the Australian Capital Territory for 2024–25 are for young people aged 12–17 following the increase of the minimum age of criminal responsibility in 2023–24.
The average daily numbers and rates of young people under community supervision have fallen over the 5 years to 2024–25, and increased for young people in detention over the same period
This section uses the Australia total excluding the Northern Territory for all supervision and community-based supervision due to Northern Territory all supervision and community-based supervision (average day) data not being available in 2023–24 and 2024–25. This is to maintain a consistent timeseries over the last 5 years.
The Australia total includes the Northern Territory for detention.
Over the 5 years from 2020–21 to 2024–25, the number of young people aged 10 and over who were under supervision on an average day fell by 9.7% (from 4,590 to 4,147), while the rate of young people aged 10–17 fell by 14% (from 14 to 12 per 10,000).
Over the 5 years from 2020–21 to 2024–25, the number of young people aged 10 and over under community-based supervision on an average day fell by 13% (from 3,857 to 3,358), while the rate fell by 9% (from 11 to 10 per 10,000) for those aged 10–17.
Over the 5 years from 2020–21 to 2024–25, the number of young people aged 10 and over in detention on an average day rose by 8.5% (from 792 to 860), while the rate of young people aged 10–17 increased slightly by 3.8% (from 2.6 to 2.7 per 10,000).
Over half of young people aged 10-17 under supervision on an average day in 2024-25 were First Nations young people
The vast majority of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (First Nations) young people have never been under supervision with 1.1% of First Nations young people aged 10–17 being under supervision on an average day in 2024–25.
On an average day in 2024–25, there were:
- 2,183 First Nations young people under youth justice supervision
- 1,743 First Nations young people under community-based supervision
- 497 First Nations young people in detention.
The rate of First Nations young people under supervision has increased over the 5 years to 2024-25
Between 2020-21 and 2024–25, the rate of First Nations young people aged 10–17 under supervision on an average day rose from 106 to 109 per 10,000.
The rate of non-Indigenous young people under supervision fell between 2020–21 to 2024–25, from 7.2 to 5.4 per 10,000.
On an average day over the 5-year period from 2020–21 to 2024–25, the number of First Nations young people aged 10 and over in detention increased by 26% (from 394 to 497).
Between 2020-21 and 2024-25, First nations over-representation increased. In 2020–21, First Nations young people aged 10-17 were about 16 times as likely as their non-Indigenous counterparts to be in detention, rising to about 23 times as likely in 2024–25.
The rate for First Nations young people aged 10-17 in detention increased from 20 to 26 per 10,000 over the 5-year period.
Young people in remote areas were more likely to be under supervision
Although most young people under supervision on an average day had come from cities and regional areas (88%), those from geographically remote areas had the highest rates of supervision (ABS 2021).
On an average day in 2024–25, young people aged 10–17 who were from Very remote areas were 10 times as likely to be under supervision as those from Major cities. This largely reflects the higher proportions of First Nations Australians under Youth Justice supervision living in these areas.
Young people from lower socioeconomic areas were more likely to be under supervision
Almost 2 in 5 young people (38%) under supervision on an average day in 2024-25 were from the lowest socioeconomic areas, compared to about 1 in 17 young people (5.9%) from the highest socioeconomic areas.
About 1 in 3 young people were new to supervision
Just over 1 in 3 (36%) young people under youth justice supervision in 2024-25 were new to supervision in that year. All other young people (64%) had been supervised in a previous year.
First Nations young people were younger when they entered supervision than non‑Indigenous young people
About 3 in 10 (30%, or 1,583) First Nations young people under supervision in 2024-25 were first supervised when aged 10–13.
Around 1 in 7 (13%) of non-Indigenous young people under supervision 2024-25 were first supervised when aged 10–13.
ABS (Australian Bureau of Statistics) (2021) Remoteness structure, ABS, Australian Government.