Youth justice fact sheet no. 59
Queensland:
youth justice supervision in 2014–15
This fact sheet focuses on youth justice supervision in Queensland 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
On an average day in 2014–15, there were 1,524 young people (aged 10 and over) in Queensland who were under youth justice supervision (Figure 1; see Box 2 for information on ‘average day’). Among the states and territories, Queensland had the largest population of young people under supervision on an average day, making up more than one-quarter (27%) of all those under supervision in Australia (Table S1a).
Almost 9 in 10 young people under supervision in Queensland (89%, or 1,359) were supervised in the community and the remainder (11%) were in detention (note that some young people may have moved between community-based supervision and detention on the same day). This was slightly higher than the proportion of young people under community-based supervision nationally (85% of those under 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 S132.
Figure 1: Young people under supervision on an average day(a) by supervision type and sex, Queensland, 2014–15
The rate of young people aged 10–17 under supervision in Queensland on an average day in 2014–15 was 29 per 10,000, which was higher than the national average (21 per 10,000) (Table S4a). The rate of young people under community-based supervision was higher than the national level (26 per 10,000 compared with 18 per 10,000), while the rate in detention was similar (almost 4 per 10,000 compared with 3 per 10,000) (tables S39a and S77a).
Community-based supervision
1,359 Detention
172 Young people under supervision on an average day
1,524
Males
1,036 Males
142 Females
323 Females
31
Age and sex
Young people under youth justice supervision in Queensland were younger, on average, than those in other states and territories. More than three-quarters (78%) of young people under supervision on an average day in Queensland were aged 10–16, compared with 64% nationally (Table S1a). Among the states and territories, Queensland had the largest group of young people under supervision in each single year of age from 10 to 16.
This is partly due to differences in legislation. In Queensland, young people who are aged 17 or over at the time that they allegedly commit offences are processed in the adult criminal justice system (compared with 18 or over in the other states and territories). However, young people aged 17 or over in Queensland may be involved in the youth justice system—reasons for this include the time taken to finalise legal matters or complete existing periods of supervision. More information on the age limits for youth justice supervision in Australia is available from
<http://www.aihw.gov.au/youth-justice/youth-justice-system-in-Australia>.
In Queensland, just over three-quarters (77%) of young people under supervision on an average day in 2014–15 were male (compared with 82% nationally) (Table S2a and Figure 2). Males made up a larger proportion of young people in detention than under community-based supervision (82% and 76% respectively) (Table S132). These proportions were lower than the national average (91% and 80% respectively) (tables S37a and S75a).
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 S132a.
Figure 2: Young people under supervision on an average day by age and sex, Queensland, 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 Queensland, Indigenous young people constitute 8% of the state’s population aged 10–17 (Table S145) but made up more than half (56%) of those aged 10–17 under youth justice supervision on an average day (Table S3a). This was higher than the national level (46%). More than half (55%) of young people aged 10–17 under community-based supervision on an average day in Queensland were Indigenous, and nearly two-thirds (65%) of those aged 10–17 in detention were Indigenous (Table S132).
The rate of Indigenous young people aged 10–17 under supervision on an average day in Queensland was 218 per 10,000, compared with 13 per 10,000 for non-Indigenous young people (Table S4a). This means that Indigenous young
In Queensland, the level of Indigenous over-representation (as measured by the rate ratio) was greater in detention (22 times as likely) than in community-based supervision (16 times) (tables S39a and S77a). This pattern also occurred at the national level, where the Indigenous rate was 24 times the non-Indigenous rate in detention and 14 times the non-Indigenous rate in community-based supervision.
Time under supervision
In Queensland, the median duration of individual periods of supervision that were completed during 2014–15 was 184 days, or 26 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 of 138 days, or about 20 weeks.
When all periods of supervision are considered (including periods that are ongoing, that is, not yet completed), the average total amount of time young people spent under supervision during the year in Queensland was 205 days, or 29 weeks (Figure 3). This was 3 weeks longer than the national average (181 days).
The typical amount of time spent under youth justice supervision varied according to the type of supervision. In Queensland, completed periods of community-based supervision (including any time before 1 July 2014) were typically much longer than completed periods of detention (median 113 days compared with 18 days) (tables S64 and S103).
Similarly, when all periods of supervision during the year are considered, young people spent substantially longer under community-based supervision than in detention (188 days compared with 68) (Figure 3). This pattern was consistent with the national results.
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.
Similar to the rest of Australia, completed periods of sentenced detention in Queensland were typically longer than periods of unsentenced detention (median 49 days compared with 15 days) (tables S117 and S124). When all periods are considered, young people spent a similar amount of time in sentenced and unsentenced detention during the year (65 days, on average, compared with 61 days) (tables S118 and S126).
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, Queensland and Australia, 2014–15
Sentenced and unsentenced detention
On an average day in 2014–15, most (84%) young people in detention in Queensland were unsentenced and the remainder were serving a sentence (Table S109a). The proportion that was unsentenced was substantially higher than the national average (54%).
Each month, there were 125–161 young people in unsentenced detention in Queensland on an average day and 20–48 in sentenced detention (Figure 4).
Source: Table S112.
Figure 4: Young people in detention on an average day by legal status and month, Queensland, 2014–15
Recent trends: 2010–11 to 2014–15
Between 2010–11 and 2014–15, there was no consistent trend in the numbers and rates of young people under supervision on an average day in Queensland. The number of young people (of all ages) ranged between 1,488 and 1,580 each year, while the rate of young people aged 10–17 was between 28 and 30 per 10,000 (Figure 5 and Table S11a).
This was different to the national average, where the numbers and rates under supervision decreased over the period.
In Queensland, the pattern in community-based supervision was similar to that of all supervision. The rate of young people under community-based supervision on an average day was between 25 and 27 per 10,000 each year (Figure 5).
In detention, the rate of young people on an average day remained at 3–4 per 10,000.
The trend in Queensland was different to the national pattern, where the numbers and rates of young people under supervision (both community-based supervision and detention) decreased over the 5-year period to 2014–15.
There was a steady increase in the number of young people in unsentenced detention in Queensland over the 5 years (from 99 to 145 on an average day) (Table S113). Numbers increased among both Indigenous and non-Indigenous young people. Over the 5-year period, the number of young people in sentenced detention on an average day fluctuated at around 36–52.
The level of Indigenous over-representation of young people under supervision in Queensland (as shown by the rate ratio) increased over the period, from 13 to 16 times the non-Indigenous rate (Table S12a). A similar increase occurred at the national level (from 13 to 15 times the non-Indigenous rate). In Queensland, increases occurred overall in both community-based supervision (from 12 to 16 times) and detention (from 17 to 22 times) (tables S47a and S85a).
Source: Tables S12a, S47a and S85a.
Figure 5: Young people aged 10–17 years under supervision on an average day by supervision type, Queensland, 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 978-1-74249-915-4 ISSN 2202-1841
Suggested citation
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare 2016. Queensland: youth justice supervision in 2014–15. Youth justice fact sheet no. 59.
Cat. no. JUV 79. Canberra: AIHW.
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare Board Chair Dr Mukesh C Haikerwal AO Acting Director Mr Andrew Kettle
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