Youth justice in Australia 2018–19

Number and rate

On an average day in 2018–19, in the Australian Capital Territory:

• 76 young people aged 10 and over were under youth justice supervision
• 91% were supervised in the community, and the rest (9%) in detention
• the rate of supervision was 17 per 10,000 young people aged 10–17
• 16 per 10,000 young people aged 10–17 were under community-based supervision, and 2 per 10,000 were in detention.

Age and sex

On an average day in 2018–19, in the Australian Capital Territory:

• 87% of those under supervision were aged 10–17, and the rest were 18 and over
• almost 4 in 5 (78%) of those under supervision were male
• males under supervision were most likely to be aged 16 and 17, while females were most likely to be 15.
   

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people

On an average day in 2018–19, in the Australian Capital Territory:

• Indigenous young people made up 3% of those aged 10–17 in the general population, but 23% of those of the same age under supervision
• Indigenous young people aged 10–17 were 9 times as likely as non-Indigenous young people to be under supervision (130 per 10,000 compared with 14 per 10,000).

Time under supervision

In 2018–19, in the Australian Capital Territory:

• the median duration of supervision periods that were completed during the year was 305 days (44 weeks)
• when all time spent under supervision during the year is considered, young people spent an average of 159 days (23 weeks) under supervision.

Sentenced and unsentenced detention

On an average day in 2018–19, in the Australian Capital Territory:

• 5 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
• 2 young people in detention were serving a sentence.

Trends to 2018–19

Over the 5 years to 2018–19, on an average day in the Australian Capital Territory:

• the number of young people under supervision fell overall by 8% (from 83 in 2014–15 to 76 in 2018–19), peaking at 103 in 2017–18. The rate fell overall from 22 to 17 per 10,000 young people aged 10–17, with a high in 2017–18 of 26 per 10,000
• in community-based supervision, the number fell by 7%, with a peak in 2017–18 while the rate fell overall from 19 to 16 per 10,000, with a high of 23 per 10,000 in 2017–18
• in detention, the number fell by 30% (from 10 to 7 young people), while the rate fluctuated between 2 and 3 per 10,000.

More information

For more information see Youth justice.