NCJ Number
228194
Date Published
2009
Length
59 pages
Annotation
This report presents a statistical overview of juveniles in detention in Australia for fiscal year 2006-07, and trends are noted for the period 1981-2007.
Abstract
Among the key findings is that only about 5 percent of juveniles who were found guilty in the children's courts across Australia during 2006-07 were sentenced to detention. Another key finding is that detention rates for all youth ages 10-17 have decreased by 51 percent since 1981. Regarding gender proportions of youth in detention, on June 30, 2007, 91 percent of all juveniles in detention were male. Regarding age, 15-17-year-olds have consistently composed the vast majority of juvenile detainees among the age range of detainees from 10 to 17. Regarding race/ethnicity, Indigenous youth have consistently been detained at much higher rates than non-Indigenous youth; however, between 1994 and 2002, the detention rates of Indigenous youth ages 10-17 decreased by 32 percent across Australia, but this decline was less than the 44-percent decline for non-Indigenous youth over the same period. Rates of detention of Indigenous youth stabilized between 2003 and 2006, with 2007 showing an increase in the detention rate for Indigenous youth. Currently, the overrepresentation of Indigenous youth relative to non-Indigenous youth in detention remains very high, with Indigenous youth being 28 times more likely to be in detention on June 30, 2007. Prior to this 2007 report, the Juveniles in Detention dataset was compiled from quarterly data submitted to the Australian Institute of Criminology by the relevant juvenile custodial authorities in each Australian jurisdiction. Data for the current report were provided directly from the relevant jurisdictional authority for Western Australia, New South Wales, and Tasmania. Data for the other five jurisdictions came from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare Juvenile Justice National Minimum Data Set. 26 tables, 15 figures, and 15 references