YOUTH OFFENDERS
Of the young offenders aged 10 to 19 years, both males and females aged 17 years of age had the highest offender rates. Males aged 17 years offended at a rate four times higher than the rate for all male offenders (15,855 male offenders for every 100,000 males aged 17 years compared to 3,943 male offenders per 100,000 males aged 10 years and over). Females aged 17 years had an offender rate of 4,014 female offenders for every 100,000 females aged 17 years, which was four times the rate of all female offenders (997 female offenders per 100,000 females aged 10 years and over).
The offender rate for males decreased noticeably after the age of 17 years, compared to a more gradual decrease for female offender rates after this age.
Youth offender rate (a), Age by sex, South Australia
The predominant principal offences for youth offenders were public order offences (21%), theft (16%) and acts intended to cause injury (13%). The impact of age on offending patterns is further illustrated by the following graph. The peaks in the rate of offending associated with the different offence types occurred at different ages as well as different levels. Rates associated with theft peaked at 15 years compared to 17 years for public order offences and 18 years for acts intended to cause injury. After the age of 17 there was a noticeable decrease in the rate at which offenders had public order offences as their principal offence.
Youth offender rate (a), Selected principal offence by age, South Australia
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