Half all youths in juvenile detention unsentenced: AIHW

About 1,000 young people are in juvenile detention on an average night in Australia and almost half have yet to be sentenced for a crime, according to a new report by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW).

The Juvenile Detention population in Australia 2011 report found that on an average night in the June quarter of 2011 there were 1,055 young people in detention, and 48 per cent who were unsentenced.

“Young people who are unsentenced are in custody because they are awaiting their next court appearance,” said AIHW spokesperson Nigel Harding.

This proportion ranged from 43 to 68 per cent across states and territories — with the exception of Victoria, where just 22 per cent were unsentenced.

“Detention rates were highest in the Northern Territory where the rate was more than twice the national average — ranging from 0.75 per 1,000 to 1.78 per 1,000 over the four years,” Mr Harding said. “Detention rates were lowest in Victoria, where they ranged from 0.10 per 1,000 to 0.16 per 1,000.”

The report found detention rates were stable over the four years, with around 0.35 young people aged 10 to 17 per 1,000 in detention in Australia. This morning the Director of the National Children's and Youth Law Centre, Matthew Keeley, told the ABC’s AM the figures were unacceptable and all governments should be doing more to bring youth detention rates down.

Aboriginal youth detention levels still higher

According to today’s AIHW report, young Aboriginal people continue to be over-represented in juvenile detention in all states and territories, although the level of over-representation fell over the four years for both unsentenced and sentenced detention.

On an average night in the June quarter in 2011, an Aboriginal youth aged 10 to 17 was 20 times as likely to be in unsentenced detention and 26 times as likely to be in sentenced detention as a non-Aboriginal person of the same age.

In Western Australia, according to The Australian, the gap is even wider with Aboriginal youths being 50 times more likely to be in sentenced detention.

For more information

• The AIHW report provides information on the number of young people in detention in 2011 and describes recent trends in the detention population. Download the Juvenile Detention population in Australia 2011 report.
• Listen to or read the transcript of the ‘Indigenous youth detention rates slammed’ report on the ABC’s AM program.
• Read ‘Young people behind bars: state affects fate’ in The Australian.