The first release in the Australian Institute of Criminology's Technical and Background Paper series reports on the rates of detention of juveniles in Australia. The statistics in this publication are derived from quarterly reports on juvenile detention submitted to the Australian Institute of Criminology by juvenile justice authorities in each Australian jurisdiction. The report shows that both the number of Indigenous juveniles in custody and the rate of incarceration of Indigenous young people are considerably higher than the number and rate for non-Indigenous people. Although the number of Indigenous juveniles in detention has declined from an average of 506 in 1995 to 343 in 2001, Indigenous juveniles are still 17 times more likely to be in Australian detention facilities than are non-Indigenous young people.
People aged 10 to 17 in juvenile detention, by Indigenous status, 1994-2001 [see attached PDF for graph]
Source
- Cahill, L. & Marshall, P. 2002, Statistics on Juvenile Detention in Australia: 1981-2001, Technical and Background Paper Series, no. 1, Australian Institute of Criminology, Canberra.