Youth justice in Australia 2018–19

Number and rate 

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

• 953 young people aged 10 and over were under youth justice supervision
• 4 in 5 (80%) were supervised in the community, and the rest (20%) were in detention
• the rate of supervision was 11 per 10,000 young people aged 10–17 
• 9 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 Victoria:

• 70% of those under supervision were aged 10–17, and the rest were 18 and over (in Victoria, some young people aged 18–20 may be sentenced to detention in a youth facility rather than adult prison under the ‘dual track’ system).
• 86% of those under supervision were male
• males under supervision were most likely to be aged 18 or over, and females 17.
   

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people

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

• Indigenous young people made up 2% of those aged 10–17 in the general population, but 16% of those of the same age under supervision
• Indigenous young people aged 10–17 were 11 times as likely as non-Indigenous young people to be under supervision (107 per 10,000 compared with 10 per 10,000)
• Indigenous over-representation was similar in detention (11 times the non-Indigenous rate).

Time under supervision

In 2018–19, in Victoria:

• the median duration of individual periods of supervision that were completed was 187 days in total (27 weeks)
• when all time spent under supervision during the year is considered, young people spent an average of 198 days (28 weeks) under supervision.

Sentenced and unsentenced detention

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

• nearly half (47%) of 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
• 52% of young people in detention were serving a sentence (proportions might not sum to 100%, due to rounding).

Trends to 2018–19

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

• the number of all young people under supervision fell by 18% (from 1,157 in 2014–15 to 953 in 2018–19), while the rate fell from 14 to 11 per 10,000 young people aged 10–17
• in community-based supervision, the number fell by 25%, while the rate fell from 13 to 9 per 10,000 young people aged 10–17
• in detention, the number rose by 32%, while the rate rose from 1 to 2 per 10,000 young people aged 10–17
• The rate of Indigenous young people aged 10–17 under supervision fell from 129 to 107 per 10,000.
   

More information

For more information see Youth justice.