Queensland

Quick facts

On an average day in 2018–19, in Queensland:

  • 1,939 young people aged 10 and over were under youth justice supervision
  • 32 per 10,000 young people aged 10–17 were under supervision
  • Indigenous young people were 18 times as likely as non-Indigenous young people to be under supervision.

Of those under youth justice supervision:

  • 87% were supervised in the community, and 13% in detention
  • 77% were male
  • 61% of those aged 10–17 were Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander
  • 87% of those in detention were unsentenced (awaiting the outcome of their court matter or sentencing), and the rest were serving a sentence.

Young people spent an average of 32 weeks under supervision during the year.

Over the 5 years to 2018–19, the number of young people aged 10 and over who were under supervision on an average day rose by 25%, while the rate for those aged 10–17 rose slightly from 30 to 32 per 10,000.

Number and rate

On an average day in 2018–19, in Queensland:

  • 1,939 young people aged 10 and over were under youth justice supervision
  • nearly 9 in 10 (87%) were supervised in the community, and 13% in detention
  • the rate of supervision was 32 per 10,000 young people aged 10–17
  • 27 per 10,000 young people aged 10–17 were under community-based supervision, and 5 per 10,000 were in detention.

Age and sex

On an average day in 2018–19, in Queensland:

  • 86% of those under supervision were aged 10–17, and the rest were 18 and over
  • more than 3 quarters (77%) of young people under supervision were male
  • males under supervision were most likely to be aged 17 and females were most likely to be aged 16.
     

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people

On an average day in 2018–19, in Queensland:

  • Indigenous young people made up 8% of those aged 10–17 in the general population, but 61% of those of the same age under supervision
  • Indigenous young people aged 10–17 were 18 times as likely as non-Indigenous young people to be under supervision (246 per 10,000 compared with 14 per 10,000)
  • Indigenous over-representation was higher in detention (28 times the non‑Indigenous rate).

Time under supervision

In 2018–19, in Queensland:

  • the median duration of individual periods of supervision that were completed during 2018–19 was 184 days (26 weeks)
  • when all time spent under supervision during the year is considered, young people spent an average of 224 days (32 weeks) under supervision.

 Sentenced and unsentenced detention

On an average day in 2018–19, in Queensland:

  • almost 9 in 10 (87%) young people in detention were unsentenced—that is, they were awaiting the outcome of their court matter, or had been found guilty and were awaiting sentencing
  • 15% of young people in detention were serving a sentence (proportions might not sum to 100%, as young people may be on sentenced and unsentenced orders on the same day).

Trends to 2018–19

Over the 5 years to 2018–19, on an average day, in Queensland:

  • the number of young people under supervision rose overall by 25%, from 1,552 in 2014–15 to 1,939 in 2018–19, with a low of 1,414 in 2016–17
  • the rate of young people under supervision rose overall from 30 to 32 per 10,000 young people aged 10–17, with a low of 23 per 10,000 in 2016–17
  • in community-based supervision, the number rose by 22%, while the rate fell from 27 to 23 in 2016–17, then returned to 27 per 10,000 in 2018–19
  • in detention, the number rose by 46%, and the rate rose from 4 to 5 per 10,000 
  • the rate of Indigenous young people under supervision rose from 216 to 246 per 10,000.
     

More information

For more information see Youth justice.