Trends in juvenile detention in Australia

Although prior to the mid-nineteenth century, there was no separate category of ' juvenile offender' in Western legal systems (Cunneen & White 2007), it is widely acknowledged today that juveniles should be subject to a system of criminal justice that is separate from the adult system and that recognises their inexperience and immaturity. As such, juveniles are typically dealt with separately from adults and treated less harshly than their adult counterparts. In all Australian jurisdictions, detention is considered a last resort for juvenile offenders. Juvenile justice legislation in each state and territory provides for the diversion of juveniles from the criminal justice system via measures such as police cautioning, restorative justice conferencing, specialty courts (such as youth drug and alcohol courts) and other diversionary programs. This paper provides an overview of key trends in juvenile detention in Australia, based on data contained in the Australian Institute of Criminology's (AIC's) Juveniles in Detention in Australia Monitoring Program database and then provides a discussion of two key trends in juvenile detention-the national increase in the proportion of juvenile detainees that is remanded (rather than sentenced) and the increase in the over-representation of Indigenous juveniles in detention.