Media Release
Embargoed until 2:00 PM (AEST) Wednesday 20 July 2016
Sentenced offending by children in Victoria is rare. In 2015, only 0.6% of the Victorian population aged 10 to 17 received a sentence in the Children’s Court, less than one-third the rate for adults (2.1% of adults received a sentence in 2015). Only one child was sentenced in the higher courts in 2015.
Consistent with the Council’s recent findings for young adult offenders, there has been a decline of approximately 43% in the number of children sentenced in the Children’s Court over the six years to 31 December 2015.
The Sentencing Advisory Council today released a report on the sentencing of children in Victoria. The report, Sentencing Children in Victoria, focuses on offenders aged under 18 at the time of offending (and under 19 at the start of proceedings) sentenced in either the Children’s Court or the higher courts in the six-year reference period.
Key Findings
The Council’s research found that over the period studied:
- The number of charges sentenced in the Children’s Court declined between 2010 and 2013. While there was an increase in the number of charges since 2013, a substantial proportion of that increase was because of new bail offences, in particular the offence of ‘contravene a conduct condition of bail’ (now repealed for children).
- The average number of charges per case has increased since 2013, even after accounting for the new bail-related offences, indicating that a smaller number of offenders are being sentenced for more offences in the Children’s Court.
- 38 children were sentenced in the higher courts. Although low numbers make it difficult to determine trends, there was a year-on-year decline in the number of children sentenced in the higher courts from 11 children in 2011 to only one child in 2015.
- The most common sentence type imposed in the Children's Court was a good behaviour bond (in 35.1% of cases), followed by probation (20.7%), fines (15.7%), youth supervision orders (11.3%), and accountable undertakings (6.6%).
- In the higher courts, the most common sentences imposed on children were imprisonment (15 cases, or 39.5%) and youth justice centre orders (12 cases, or 31.6%). Four cases (10.5%) were sentenced to probation, while three (7.9%) received a youth supervision order.
Sentenced Offences
In the Children’s Court, over the period studied, the proportion of:
- justice procedures offences increased markedly, from 4.5% of all charges to 18.5% (coinciding with the introduction of bail-related offences);
- drug offences increased marginally (from 1.6% to 2%);
- offences against the person (non-sexual) remained relatively constant (15.7%);
- traffic (driving) offences declined substantially, from 13.9% to 7.8% of all charges; and
- offences against property, transit offences, sexual offences, and ‘other’ offences declined, but by relatively small margins.
In the higher courts, between 2010 and 2015:
- culpable driving causing death (six cases) was the most common principal offence for children, followed by intentionally causing serious injury (four cases) and manslaughter (three cases).There were two or fewer cases for all other principal offences.
- compared with the Council’s previous analysis (2000 to 2009), while the number of cases per year has remained relatively constant, the proportion of cases involving fatal or death-related offences has dropped by more than half (from 79% of cases to 34%).
Children on Remand
Despite the decline in cases, the number of children held on remand awaiting trial increased by 25%, from an average daily count of 43 children in 2010–11 to 54 children in 2014–15.
Comments Attributable to Council Deputy Chair Lisa Ward
‘Consistent with earlier research by the Council and from other jurisdictions, this new report shows that the number of children sentenced has declined significantly over recent years.’
‘The recent increase in charges reflects both the introduction of new bail offences and a concentration of offending among a smaller number of children. There is no evidence of a widespread increase in the number of child offenders. Responses to crime must be considered in light of these important findings.’
The report – Sentencing Children in Victoria: Data Update Report – is available on the Council’s website.
