Young People in Detention

The number of young people aged 10 to 17 in detention in Victoria decreased from 627 in 2019–20 to 513 in 2020–21.

New South Wales had the highest number of young people in youth detention facilities of any Australian state or territory. Despite a 3.3% decrease from 2019–20, there were still 1,367 young people in detention facilities in New South Wales in 2020-21.

Tasmania had the lowest number at 43 young people, an 18.9% decrease from 53 young people in 2019–20.

Victoria and Tasmania had the lowest rates of young people in youth detention in 2020–21 at 8.3 per 10,000 young people. The Northern Territory had the highest rate at 65.9 per 10,000 young people. This was almost triple the rate in Western Australia, at 22.5 per 10,000 young people, and almost eight times the rate in Victoria and Tasmania.

Note: The data in the graph includes people aged 10 to 17 detained in a youth detention facility as opposed to an adult custodial facility. Data is based on the count of unique persons in custody at any time during the year.

Detention rates per 10,000 young people aged 10 to 17 in youth detention facilities in each Australian state and territory in 2020–21

Hover over a bar in the graph to display the detention rate and the number of young people in detention for each state and territory. The vertical line shows the national rate.

Source: Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, Youth Justice in Australia 2020-21, Cat. No. JUV 138, Supplementary table S83b and S84b (2022).