Youth justice in Australia 2024–25

Individual periods of supervision completed during 2024-25 lasted for a median length of 84 days, or about 12 weeks (this includes time under supervision before 1 July 2024 if the period started before that date) (Table S29).

The median duration of completed periods varied substantially between states and territories, ranging from 8 days in New South Wales to 269 days in Tasmania (periods include days before 1 July 2024) (Figure 7.2; Table S29).

Completed periods of community-based supervision were much longer than completed periods of detention, with a median length of 92 days (about 13 weeks) compared with 6 days, respectively (Tables S62 and S101).

Again, there were differences among the states and territories. In 2024–25, the median length of completed periods of:

• community-based supervision ranged from 50 days in the Australian Capital Territory to 168 days in Tasmania (Table S62)
• detention ranged from 2 days in the Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales, and Western Australia to 35 days in Queensland (Figure 7.2; Table S101).

The median duration of completed individual periods of unsentenced detention during 2024-25 was 5 days (Table S116). This varied among the states and territories, from 2 days in the Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales, and Western Australia to 32 days in Queensland.

For completed periods of sentenced detention, the median duration was much longer, at 40 days. This varied among the states and territories, from 7 days in the Northern Territory to 112 days in Victoria (Table S122). 

On average, First Nations young people completed longer periods of unsentenced detention than non-Indigenous young people (median of 6 days compared with 5 days) (Table S116). But First Nations young people completed shorter periods of sentenced detention than their non-Indigenous counterparts (median of 33 days compared with 74 days) (Table S122).