NCJ Number
201234
Date Published
August 2001
Length
219 pages
Annotation
This report, from the Office of Crime Statistics presents data on young offenders and the juvenile justice system of South Australia from January 2000 to December 2000 incorporating the areas of police statistics, family conferences, youth court, and juveniles in custody.
Abstract
Contributing to the ongoing public, political, and academic interest in and debate about issues associated with youth offending and South Australia’s response, the Office of Crime Statistics provides an overview of how the system is currently operating. Published annually, this report presents statistical data on young offenders and the juvenile justice system of South Australia covering the year 2000. The report incorporates six main areas: (1) police apprehensions of juveniles and actions taken; (2) formal cautions administered by police; (3) attendance by juveniles at family conferences; (4) appearances by juveniles before the Youth Court; (5) community service orders serviced by the Family and Youth Services Division of the Department of Human Services; and (6) juveniles held in custody in the Youth Training Centers. Summary highlights of juvenile justice statistics include: (1) in 2000, there were 8,992 police apprehension reports involving young people; (2) the majority of juvenile apprehensions involved males and youths aged 16 and over; (3) larceny and receiving was listed as the major allegation in 1 in 3 of the apprehensions referred to a formal caution in 2000; (4) 1,781 case referrals were finalized by the Family Conference Team which is 7.6 percent higher than 1999; (5) there were 1,613 cases for which a conference was actually held; (6) the Youth Court finalized 2,678 cases in 2000 which was 10 percent fewer than in 1990; (7) a total of 507 community service orders were referred to Family and Youth Services by the Youth Court for supervision; (8) in 2000, there were 1,201 admissions to the State’s 2 youth training centers which is 3.3 percent lower than 1999; (9) there were 67 young people who spent at least some time in secure care; (10) on average, 65.90 youths were held in custody per day during 2000 compared with 66.75 in 1999; and (11) on average there were 33.80 youths serving a detention order. Tables and appendices