Australian Capital Territory: youth justice supervision in 2013–14

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Youth justice fact sheet no. 37

Australian Capital Territory: youth justice supervision in 2013–14

This fact sheet focuses on youth justice supervision in the Australian Capital Territory in 2013–14, and includes some national comparisons.

Differences in youth justice supervision among the states and territories may reflect differences in legislation, and 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 89 young people (aged 10 and over) who were under youth justice supervision on an average day in 2013–14 (Figure 1). Young people in the Australian Capital Territory made up just over 1% of all young people under supervision in Australia (Table S1).

About 4 in 5 (82%, or 73) young people under supervision in the Australian Capital Territory on an average day were supervised in the community, and the remainder (19%) were in detention (note that some young people may have moved between community-based supervision and in detention on the same day). This was similar to the national result (85% under community-based supervision).

The rate of young people aged 10–17 under supervision on an average day was 23 per 10,000, which was equal to the national average (23 per 10,000) (Table S4). Rates of young people under community-based supervision (18 per 10,000) and in detention (4 per 10,000) were also similar to the national average (tables S39 and S77).

(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, 2013–14

Community-based supervision 73

Detention 17 Young people under supervision on an average day

89

Males 51

Males 14 Females

21

Females 2

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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-system-in-Australia>.

In the Australian Capital Territory, almost 9 in 10 young people under supervision on an average day in 2013–14 (88%) were aged 10–17, and the remainder were 18 and over (Figure 2). This was similar to the national profile (86%).

On an average day, in both community-based supervision and in detention, most were aged 10–17 (88% and 82%

respectively) (Table S140).

About three in four young people under supervision in the Australian Capital Territory on an average day (73%) were male, compared with 82% nationally (Table S2).

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 about one-quarter of young people (27%) aged 10–17 under youth justice supervision on an average day in 2013–14 (Table S140).

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.

Figure 2: Young people under supervision on an average day by age and sex, Australian Capital Territory, 2013–14

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Time under supervision

The median duration of periods of supervision that were completed in the Australian Capital Territory during 2013–14 was 127 days, or about 18 weeks (note this includes time under supervision prior to 1 July 2013 if the period of supervision began before 1 July 2013) (Table S29). This was shorter than the national median (142 days, or 20 weeks).

The median total duration of individual completed supervision periods is a new measure that is included in this fact sheet for the first time (previous publications in the Youth justice in Australia series only considered time under supervision during the most recent year when examining the median duration of individual completed supervision periods).

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 6 months (187 days) under supervision, on average (Figure 3). This was similar to the national average (182 days).

Completed periods of community-based supervision were longer than periods of detention (median duration 48 days compared with 4 days) (tables S64 and S103). When all the time under supervision during the year is considered, young people spent a total of 174 days, on average, under community-based supervision compared with 69 days in detention (Figure 3). This pattern was also found in the national figures.

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, those who were sentenced typically spent longer in detention during the year than those who were unsentenced (178 days compared with 38 days, on average) (tables S118 and S126). This was consistent with the national pattern.

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, 2013–14

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Sentenced and unsentenced detention

There were 9 young people in unsentenced detention in the Australian Capital Territory on an average day in 2013–14, and 9 in sentenced detention (Table S109). This pattern was similar to the national result—just over half (52%) of all young people in detention on an average day in Australia were unsentenced, and the remainder were sentenced.

There were between 3 and 13 young people in unsentenced detention on an average day each month, and between 6 and 13 in sentenced detention (Figure 4).

Recent trends: 2009–10 to 2013–14

Over the 5 years to 2013–14, there was an overall decline 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 increased between 2009–10 and 2010–11 (from 116 to 140) before falling in the three subsequent years (to 89 in 2013–14) (Table S11). Similarly, the rate of young people aged 10–17 under supervision peaked in 2010–11 (38 per 10,000) before dropping to 23 per 10,000 in 2013–14 (Figure 5).

This overall pattern occurred for both community-based supervision and detention. For community-based supervision the peak in 2010–11 (117 people, 31 per 10,000) was followed by a decline in both the number and rate of young people (to 73 people and 18 per 10,000 in 2013–14) (Figure 5 and Table S46). For detention, numbers and rates were also highest in 2010–11 (Figure 5 and Table S84).

Indigenous young people aged 10–17 in the Australian Capital Territory were 12 times as likely as non-Indigenous

Note: Trends among small populations should be interpreted with caution.

Figure 4: Young people in detention on an average day by legal status and month, Australian Capital Territory, 2013–14

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Source: Tables S12, S47 and S85.

Figure 5: Young people aged 10–17 years under supervision on an average day by supervision type, Australian Capital Territory, 2009–10 to 2013–14 (rate)

Box 1: Youth justice supervision fact sheets

This fact sheet is part of the Youth justice in Australia 2013–14 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=60129550638>.

For more information about young people under youth justice supervision, see

<http://www.aihw.gov.au/youth-justice/>.

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Box 2: Technical notes

1. Information about young people under youth justice supervision in this fact sheet is based on data from the 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 2013–14, so non-standard data supplied by these jurisdictions were used, where possible, in the calculation of national totals, as were estimates for 2008–09 and 2009–10 (based on 2007–08 JJ NMDS data) for the Northern Territory.

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 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 978-1-74249-699-3 ISSN 2202-1841

Suggested citation

Australian Institute of Health and Welfare 2015. Australian Capital Territory: youth justice supervision in 2013–14. Youth justice fact sheet no. 37. Cat. no. JUV 55. Canberra: AIHW.

Australian Institute of Health and Welfare Board Chair Dr Mukesh C Haikerwal AO Acting Director Ms Kerry Flanagan PSM

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Published by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare

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