Young people in custody
See an overview of the average number of young people in custody, length of stays and admissions to Youth Justice NSW Centres.
Key services measures for young people in custody
| Key service measures for young people in custody | 2017 - 2018 | 2018 - 2019 | 2019 - 2020 | 2020- 2021 | 2021 - 2022 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Average daily number of young people in custody | 286 | 265 | 251 | 201 | 187 |
| Average daily number and percent of young women in custody | 26 (9%) | 23 (9%) | 20 (8%) | 14 (7%) | 13 (7%) |
| Average daily number and percent of young people of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander background | 134 (47%) | 127 (48%) | 112 (45%) | 81 (40%) | 85 (46%) |
| Average daily number and percent of young people serving custodial sentences | 116 (41%) | 117 (44%) | 107 (43%) | 73 (36%) | 54 (29%) |
| Average daily number and percent of young people remanded in custody awaiting of court proceedings to be finalised | 170 (59%) | 148 (56%) | 144 (57%) | 128 (64%) | 133 (71%) |
Source: Department of Communities and Justice, Youth Justice Business Analytics. Effective date 2 July 2022.
Daily number
Daily number of young people in custody
This chart shows the average daily number of young people in custody over the past five years.
Statistics overview
The average daily number of young people in custody was:
286 in 2017-2018
265 in 2018-2019
251 in 2019-2020
201 in 2020-2021
187 in 2021-2022.
Source: Department of Communities and Justice, Youth Justice Business Analytics. Effective date 2 July 2022.
Daily number of young people in custody by week
This chart shows the average daily number of young people in custody by legal status by week in 2020-2021.
Source: Department of Communities and Justice, Youth Justice Business Analytics. Effective date 2 July 2022.
Daily number of young people in custody by month
This 12 month chart outlines the average daily number of young people in custody by month.
Statistics overview
In October 2021, the average daily number of young people in custody was 168.
There was a rise to 185 in November 2021 before falling to 163 in December 2021.
Since December 2021 numbers have steadily increased. There was a slight decline from 200 in May 2022 to 192 in July 2022 before rising again to peak at 214 young people in custody in September 2022. This number declined slightly to 209 young people in October 2022.
Note: This is a rolling 12 month chart that is updated monthly.
Source: Department of Communities and Justice, Youth Justice Business Analytics. Effective date 4 February 2023.
1. The average is calculated from the number of young people in custody at 23:59:59 hours for every day of the month.
2. Figures are rounded to the nearest unit.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people in custody
Daily number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people
This chart shows the average daily number and percentage of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people in custody over the past five years.
Statistics overview
The average daily number (and percentage) of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people in custody was:
134 (46.9%) in 2017-2018
127 (47.9%) in 2018-2019
112 (44.6%) in 2019-2020
81 (40.3%) in 2020-2021
85 (45.7%) in 2021-2022
Source: Department of Communities and Justice, Youth Justice Business Analytics. Effective date 2 July 2022.
Daily number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people by month
This 12 month chart shows the average daily number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people in custody by month.
Statistics overview
In October 2021, the average daily number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people in custody was 75.
There was a rise to 84 in November 2021 before falling again to 74 in December 2021.
Since December, numbers have steadily increased, with an average of 106 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people in custody in May 2022. In July 2022, the daily average had decreased slightly to 97 before rising again to a peak of 107 in September 2022 decreasing to 104 in October 2022.
Note: This is a rolling 12 month chart that is updated monthly.
Source: Department of Communities and Justice, Youth Justice Business Analytics. Effective Date 4 February 2023.
1. The average is calculated from the number of young people in custody at 23:59:59 hours for every day of the month.
2. Figures are rounded to the nearest unit.
Admissions
Youth Justice Centre admissions
This chart shows the number of admissions to Youth Justice Centres by legal status for the past five years.
Statistics overview
The number of admissions on remand was:
2,786 in 2017-2018
2,946 in 2018-2019
3,086 in 2019-2020
3,053 in 2020-2021
2,684 in 2021-2022.
The number of admissions on remand, which become control orders during a continuous period of custody, was:
299 in 2017-2018
216 in 2018-2019
211 in 2019-2020
189 in 2020-2021
152 in 2021-2022.
The number of admissions on control orders was:
90 in 2017-2018
112 in 2018-2019
84 in 2019-2020
39 in 2020-2021
12 in 2021-2022.
The total number of admissions to Youth Justice Centres was:
3,175 in 2017-2018
3,274 in 2018-2019
3,381 in 2019-2020
3,281 in 2020-2021
2,848 in 2021-2022.
Source: Department of Communities and Justice, Youth Justice Business Analytics. Effective date 2 July 2022.
1. Remand to Control are admissions on remand which become control orders during a continuous period of custody.
Remand admissions
This chart shows the number of remand admissions over the past five years.
‘Remand admissions’ include both admissions on remand and admissions on remand which become control orders during a continuous period of custody,
Statistics overview
The number of remand admissions was:
3,085 in 2017-2018
3,162 in 2018-2019
3,297 in 2019-2020
3,242 in 2020-2021
2,836 in 2021-2022.
Source: Department of Communities and Justice, Youth Justice Business Analytics. Effective date 2 July 2022.
1. A young person can have more than one remand admission per period.
Length of stay in custody
Length of stay in custody on remand
This chart shows the average, and median, number of days spent on remand over the past five years.
Statistics overview
The average length of stay in custody on remand was:
19.4 days in 2017-2018
15.4 days in 2018-2019
16.6 days in 2019-2020
12 days in 2020-2021
15.6 days in 2021-2022.
The median for every year between 2017-2018 and 2021-2022 was 1 day.
Source: Department of Communities and Justice, Youth Justice RPELive Database. Extracted 2 July 2022. As this is taken from a live database, figures are subject to change.
1. This counts all remand discharges in the counting period and calculates the length of stay in days from admission date. For remand stays that become control stays the sentence date is used as the end date of the remand period.
Length of stay in custody on control
This chart shows the average and median number of days spent on control orders over the past five years.
Statistics overview
The average length of stay in custody on control was:
107.4 days in 2017-2018, and a median of 62 days
114.3 days in 2018-2019, and a median of 80.5 days
109.3 days in 2019-2020, and a median of 66 days
126.8 days in 2020-2021, and a median of 64 days
125.0 days in 2021-2022, and a median of 65.5 days.
Source: Department of Communities and Justice, Youth Justice RPELive Database. Extracted 2 July 2022. As this is taken from a live database, figures are subject to change.
1. This counts all control discharges in the counting period and calculates the length of stay in days from admission date. For remand stays that become control stays the sentence date is used as the start date of the control period.
Young people on remand receiving control orders within 12 months
This graph shows the number of young people who were admitted on remand and who were, or were not, subsequently admitted on control within 12 months.
Statistics overview
The proportion of young people admitted on remand who had a subsequent admission on control within 12 months was:
19.2% of those admitted on remand in 2016-2017
16.9% of those admitted on remand in 2017-2018
14.1% of those admitted on remand in 2018-2019
12.1% of those admitted on remand in 2019-2020
10.5% of those admitted on remand in 2020-2021.
The proportion of young people admitted on remand who did not have a subsequent admission on control within 12 months was:
80.8% of those admitted on remand in 2016-2017
83.1% of those admitted on remand in 2017-2018
85.9% of those admitted on remand in 2018-2019
87.9% of those admitted on remand in 2019-2020
89.5% of those admitted on remand in 2020-2021.
Source: Department of Communities and Justice, Youth Justice Business Analytics. Effective date 2 July 2022.
1. This counts a young person's first remand admission to custody in the counting period and then counts any subsequent control admission within 12 months.