NCJ Number
140936
Journal
Criminology Australia Volume: 4 Issue: 1 Dated: (July-August 1992) Pages: 11-13
Date Published
1992
Length
3 pages
Annotation
The Australian State of Tasmania has a low juvenile incarceration rate and relatively low offending rates despite high juvenile unemployment and lower income levels than other Australian states. The Child Welfare Act of 1960, with its strong welfare philosophy, seems to meet the needs of the community by achieving outcomes that are consistent with the justice model of juvenile justice.
Abstract
However, many juvenile justice workers are critical of the Act because it fails to protect the rights of young offenders. A young person may receive a disposition in excess of that which a comparable adult offender would receive because of his perceived welfare needs. Critics claim that the Act fails to distinguish between issues of neglect and offending and that it gives the state excessive administrative and discretionary powers. Proponents of the legislation argue that it affords flexibility to juvenile workers who can develop case management plans for individual offenders, emphasizing community-based rather than custodial care. Calls from the community to enforce tougher penalties against young offenders has led to more concern over the Act's capacity to abuse the rights of children. It already allows for indeterminate sentencing which has the potential to permit draconian responses to juvenile delinquency. Since 1990, the adult and juvenile corrections departments have been integrated to separate juvenile offenders from the welfare approach of the Children's Services and to give juvenile corrections a specific focus. However, despite these criticisms, the author notes that legislative reform could protect the rights of children while also causing an increase in juvenile incarceration rates and bigger caseloads for juvenile corrections officers.