Youth justice fact sheet no. 56
Australian Capital Territory:
youth justice supervision in 2014–15
This fact sheet focuses on youth justice supervision in the Australian Capital Territory in 2014–15 and includes some national comparisons.
Differences in youth justice supervision among the states and territories may reflect differences in legislation as well as policy and practice. Detailed information about the youth justice systems, policies and programs in each state and territory is available from <http://www.aihw.gov.au/youth-justice/states-territories>.
Number and rate under supervision
In the Australian Capital Territory, there were 82 young people (aged 10 and over) who were under youth justice supervision on an average day in 2014–15 (Figure 1; see Box 2 for information on ‘average day’). Young people under supervision in the Australian Capital Territory made up just over 1% of all young people under supervision in Australia (Table S1a).
Most (88%, or 72) young people under supervision in the Australian Capital Territory on an average day were supervised in the community and the remainder (12%) were in detention (note that some young people may have moved
between community-based supervision and detention on the same day). This was similar to the national result (85%
under community-based supervision) (tables S1a and S36a).
(a) Number of young people on an average day may not sum due to rounding, and because some young people may have moved between community-based supervision and detention on the same day.
Note: Totals may include young people with unknown sex.
Source: Table S140.
Figure 1: Young people under supervision on an average day(a) by supervision type and sex, Australian Capital Territory, 2014–15
The rate of young people aged 10–17 under supervision on an average day in the Australian Capital Territory was 22 per 10,000, which was similar to the national result (21 per 10,000) (Table S4a). Rates of young people under
community-based supervision (19 per 10,000) and in detention (2 per 10,000) were also similar to the national rates (tables S39a and S77a).
Community-based supervision
72 Detention
10 Young people under supervision on an average day
82
Males
55 Males
9 Females
17 Females
1
Age and sex
In most cases in Australia, the upper age limit in the youth justice system is 17 years at the time of the offence.
However, it is possible for young people aged 18 and over to be under youth justice supervision. Reasons may include their age at the time of the offence, the continuation of supervision once they turn 18, or their vulnerability
or immaturity. More information on the age limits for youth justice supervision is available from
<http://www.aihw.gov.au/youth-justice/youth-justice-system-in-Australia>.
In the Australian Capital Territory, more than 9 in 10 (93%) young people under supervision on an average day in 2014–15 were aged 10–17, and the remainder were 18 and over (Figure 2). The proportion aged 10–17 in the Australian Capital Territory was higher than the national result (87%) (Table S1a). On an average day, in both community-based supervision and in detention, most of those in the Australian Capital Territory were aged 10–17 (93% and 80%
respectively) (Table S140).
Almost 4 in 5 (78%) young people under supervision in the Australian Capital Territory on an average day were male, compared with 82% nationally (Table S2a).
Note: Age is calculated at the start of the financial year if the first period of supervision began before the start of the financial year; otherwise, age is calculated as at the start of the first period of supervision in the relevant year.
Source: Table S140a.
Figure 2: Young people under supervision on an average day by age and sex, Australian Capital Territory, 2014–15
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people have a long history of over-representation in both the youth and adult justice systems in Australia. In the Australian Capital Territory, Indigenous young people constitute 3% of the population aged 10–17 (Table S145) but comprised more than one-quarter (28%) of young people aged 10–17 under youth justice supervision on an average day in 2014–15 (Table S140a).
The rate of Indigenous young people aged 10–17 under supervision on an average day in the Australian Capital Territory was 213 per 10,000, compared with 16 per 10,000 for non-Indigenous young people (Table S4a). This means that Indigenous young people aged 10–17 were about 13 times as likely as non-Indigenous young people to be under supervision on an average day. This was lower than the national result (15 times as likely).
In community-based supervision, Indigenous young people in the Australian Capital Territory were 12 times as likely as non-Indigenous young people to be under community-based supervision on an average day (compared with 14 times as likely nationally) (Table S39a). The Indigenous rate ratio could not be calculated for detention due to small numbers (Table S77a).
Time under supervision
The median duration of periods of supervision that were completed in the Australian Capital Territory during 2014–15 was 153 days, or about 22 weeks (note this includes time under supervision prior to 1 July 2014 if the period of supervision began before 1 July 2014) (Table S29). This was longer than the national median (138 days, or 20 weeks).
When all periods of supervision during the year are considered (including periods that are ongoing, that is, yet to be completed), young people in the Australian Capital Territory spent just over 26 weeks (185 days) under supervision, on average (compared with 181 days nationally) (Figure 3).
The typical amount of time spent under youth justice supervision varied according to the type of supervision.
Completed periods of community-based supervision were longer than periods of detention (median duration 83 days compared with 3 days) (tables S64 and S103). When all the time under supervision during the year is considered, young people in the Australian Capital Territory spent a total of 190 days, on average, under community-based supervision compared with 40 days in detention (Figure 3). This pattern was also found in the national results.
Source: Tables S30, S65, S104, S118 and S126.
Figure 3: Average length of time young people spent under supervision during the year, by supervision type, Australian Capital Territory and Australia, 2014–15
Young people may be under supervision when they are unsentenced—that is, when they have been charged with an offence and are awaiting the outcome of their court matter, or when they have been found or pleaded guilty and are awaiting sentencing. They may also be sentenced to a period of supervision if proven guilty in a court.
Among those who experienced detention in the Australian Capital Territory in 2014–15, those who were sentenced typically spent longer in detention during the year than those who were unsentenced (114 days compared with 22 days, on average) (tables S118 and S126). This was consistent with the national pattern.
Sentenced and unsentenced detention
There were 5 young people in unsentenced detention in the Australian Capital Territory on an average day in 2014–15 and 5 in sentenced detention (Table S109a). This was similar to the national pattern—just over half (54%) of all young people in detention on an average day in Australia were unsentenced, and the remainder were sentenced.
There were 3–8 young people in unsentenced detention on an average day each month and 3–7 in sentenced detention (Figure 4).
Note: Trends among small populations should be interpreted with caution.
Source: Table S112.
Figure 4: Young people in detention on an average day by legal status and month, Australian Capital Territory, 2014–15
Recent trends: 2010–11 to 2014–15
Over the 5 years to 2014–15, there were declines in the numbers and rates of young people under supervision in the Australian Capital Territory. The number of young people (of all ages) under supervision on an average day fell from 140 in 2010–11 to 82 in 2014–15 (Table S11a).
In community-based supervision, the number and rate of young people declined over the 5-year period: from 117 young people on an average day in 2010–11 to 72 in 2014–15, and from 31 to 19 per 10,000 aged 10–17 over the same period (Figure 5 and Table S46a). In detention, numbers (from 24 to 10 young people) and rates (from 6 to 2 per 10,000) also declined over this period (Figure 5 and Table S84a).
Indigenous young people aged 10–17 in the Australian Capital Territory were 13 times as likely as non-Indigenous young people to be under supervision on an average day in 2014–15, down from a peak of 15 times as likely in 2011–12 (Table S12a). This was in contrast to the national trend, where the level of Indigenous over-representation increased steadily over the 5-year period (from 13 to 15 times the non-Indigenous rate).
Source: Tables S12a, S47a and S85a.
Figure 5: Young people aged 10–17 years under supervision on an average day by supervision type, Australian Capital Territory, 2010–11 to 2014–15 (rate)
Box 1: Youth justice supervision fact sheets
This fact sheet is part of the Youth justice in Australia 2014–15 release, which also includes a bulletin, supplementary tables and web pages released in multiple stages throughout the year—see
<http://www.aihw.gov.au/publications/youth-justice>.
The supplementary data tables (those with a prefix of S) referred to in this fact sheet can be downloaded from
<http://www.aihw.gov.au/publication-detail/?id=60129554714>.
For more information about young people under youth justice supervision, see
<http://www.aihw.gov.au/youth-justice/>.
Box 2: Technical notes
1. Information about young people under youth justice supervision in this fact sheet is based on data from the Juvenile Justice National Minimum Data Set (JJ NMDS). This data collection contains information about all young people who were supervised by state and territory youth justice agencies in Australia, both in the community and in detention. Western Australia and the Northern Territory did not supply JJ NMDS data for the period 2008–09 to 2014–15, so non-standard data that these jurisdictions supplied were used, where possible, in the calculation of national totals.
2. This fact sheet uses an ‘average day’ measure to illustrate the number of young people under supervision. The average day measure reflects the number of young people under supervision on a typical day during the year, and gives an indication of the average number of young people supported by the supervision system at any one time. It is a summary measure that reflects both the number of young people supervised and the amount of time they spent under supervision.
3. Population rates allow for the comparison of different groups while taking into account differences in population sizes. Rates are restricted to those aged 10–17 due to differences between states and territories;
they exclude young people where data is unavailable; and are not calculated where there are fewer than 5 young people due to a lack of statistical reliability.
4. Rate ratios are used to compare Indigenous and non-Indigenous rates and to provide a measure of the level of Indigenous over-representation. Rate ratios should be interpreted with caution where there are small denominators, rare events and rates that converge while declining (or diverge while increasing).
Further technical and data quality information, including definitions of key terms in this fact sheet, is available from <http://www.aihw.gov.au/youth-justice/data-quality/>.
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This publication is part of the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare’s Youth Justice fact sheet series. A complete list of the Institute’s publications is available from the Institute’s website <www.aihw.gov.au>.
ISBN 978-1-74249-912-3 ISSN 2202-1841
Suggested citation
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare 2016. Australian Capital Territory: youth justice supervision in 2014–15. Youth justice fact sheet no. 56. Cat. no. JUV 76. Canberra: AIHW.
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare Board Chair Dr Mukesh C Haikerwal AO Acting Director Mr Andrew Kettle
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