Youth Justice profile
Find an overview of statistics and key characteristics of young people in Youth Justice NSW, including age, gender, number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, re-offending rates and exit plans.
Age of young people entering Youth Justice NSW
This chart shows the proportion of young people in 2022-2023 who were under 16 years, between 16 and 17 years, and 18 years and older:
- at the time of a Youth Justice Conference
- at the start of community supervision
- on admission to remand and control.
Statistics overview
At the time of a Youth Justice Conference:
- 51% of young people were younger than 16 years
- 41% of young people were 16 to 17 years
- 8% of young people were 18 years and older.
At the start of community supervision:
- 41% of young people were younger than 16 years
- 53% of young people were 16 to 17 years
- 6% of young people were 18 years and older.
On admission to remand:
- 55% of young people were younger than 16 years
- 43% of young people were 16 to 17 years
- 2% of young people were 18 years and older.
On admission to control:
- 30% of young people were younger than 16 years
- 59% of young people were 16 to 17 years
- 11% of young people were 18 years and older.
Source: Department of Communities and Justice, Youth Justice Business Analytics. Effective date 1 July 2023.
Gender of young people in Youth Justice NSW
This chart shows the proportion of male and female young people in Youth Justice in 2022-2023 by legal status.
Statistics overview
Of the young people attending a Youth Justice Conference:
- 76% were male
- 23% were female.
Of the young people under community based supervision:
- 84% were male
- 16% were female.
Of the young people remanded in custody:
- 81% were male
- 19% were female.
Of the young people sentenced to detention:
- 95% were male
- 5% were female.
Source: Department of Communities and Justice, Youth Justice Business Analytics. Effective date 1 July 2023.
Re-offending rates of young people
This chart shows the percentage and number of young people who re-offended within 12 months of contact with Youth Justice NSW.
Statistics overview
A downward trend is observed.
Of those in contact with Youth Justice NSW in 2017-2018, there were 1095 young people who reoffended within the following 12 months.
This represents 48.9% of those in contact with Youth Justice NSW during this period. This declines to 784 or 43.8% for those in contact with Youth Justice NSW in 2021-2022.
Source: NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research. Reference: Juvenile Reoffending 30 September 2023.
1. Re-offending is defined as the percentage of persons who had contact with Youth Justice NSW by way of sentenced detention, supervised community order, or Youth Justice Conference and were later convicted by a (juvenile or adult) court or conference of any new offence that takes place within 12 months of the reference date, and is proven in court, or dealt with by a Youth Justice Conference, within 15 months of the reference date.
2. The reference 'contact' date is the date of release from custody, court finalisation date, or Youth Justice Centre date, as relevant.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people admitted to Youth Justice NSW
This chart shows the number of admissions of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people to Youth Justice by legal status for the past 5 years.
Statistics overview
The number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people commencing community supervision was:
2606 in 2018-2019
2421 in 2019-2020
2101 in 2020-2021
1891 in 2021-2022
2255 in 2022-2023.
The number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people remanded in custody was:
1359 in 2018-2019
1245 in 2019-2020
1158 in 2020-2021
1299 in 2021-2022
1783 in 2022-2023.
The number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people attending a Youth Justice Conference was:
409 in 2018-2019
393 in 2019-2020
509 in 2020-2021
366 in 2021-2022
369 in 2022-2023.
The number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people sentenced to detention was:
166 in 2018-2019
148 in 2019-2020
109 in 2020-2021
105 in 2021-2022
81 in 2022-2023.
Source: Department of Communities and Justice, Youth Justice Business Analytics. Effective date 1 July 2023.
Percentage of young people admitted to Youth Justice NSW who identify as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
This chart shows the percentage of young people admitted to Youth Justice who identify as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander by legal status for the past five years.
Statistics overview
The percentage of young people attending a Youth Justice Conference who identify as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander was:
34.7% in 2018-2019
35.2% in 2019-2020
36.6% in 2020-2021
37.8% in 2021-2022
38.3% in 2022-2023.
The percentage of young people under community supervision who identify as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander was:
43.8% in 2018-2019
41.3% in 2019-2020
37.6% in 2020-2021
43.5% in 2021-2022
52.8% in 2022-2023.
The percentage of young people remanded in custody who identify as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander was:
46.1% in 2018-2019
40.3% in 2019-2020
37.9% in 2020-2021
48.4% in 2021-2022
57.0% in 2022-2023.
The percentage of young people sentenced to detention who identify as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander was:
50.6% in 2018-2019
50.2% in 2019-2020
47.8% in 2020-2021.
50.0%% in 2021-2022
56.3% in 2022-2023.
Source: Department of Communities and Justice, Youth Justice Business Analytics. Effective date 1 July 2023.
Young people exiting Youth Justice NSW by exit summary category
This chart shows the percentage of young people exiting Youth Justice by exit summary category for the past five years.
Statistics overview
The percentage of young people exiting Youth Justice NSW to safe and appropriate accommodation was:
91% in 2018-2019
93% in 2019-2020
89% in 2020-2021
89% in 2021-2022
93% in 2022-2023.
The percentage of young people participating in education and training or employment on exit from Youth Justice NSW was:
59% in 2018-2019
56% in 2019-2020
54% in 2020-2021
58% in 2021-2022
62% in 2022-2023.
The percentage of young people participating in community activities on exit from Youth Justice NSW was:
33% in 2018-2019
36% in 2019-2020
36% in 2020-2021
33% in 2021-2022
36% in 2022-2023.
Source: Department of Communities and Justice, Youth Justice Business Analytics. Effective 1 July 2023.