Youth detention data
This report looks at the number of young people in detention on an average night in each quarter from the June quarter 2019 to the June quarter 2023. Each quarter covers 3 months of the year and is identified with reference to the last month in the quarter, for example, the March quarter comprises January, February, and March.
The states and territories provided data on the average nightly number of young people in detention each quarter between July 2022 and June 2023. These data supplement the Youth Justice National Minimum Data Set (YJ NMDS). For more information, see Technical notes.
In the Northern Territory, new legislation was implemented to the youth justice system on 15 May 2021 – the Youth Justice Legislation Amendment Act (YJLAA) 2021 (the Act). The intent of the Act was to target repeat youth offenders to reduce youth crime. The Act resulted in some key changes to processes of the youth justice system. This change in legislation may have affected the number and rate of young people in detention in the Northern Territory.