YOUTH OFFENDERS

Of the young offenders aged 10 to 19 years, both males and females aged 17 years had the highest offender rates. Males aged 17 years offended at a rate four times higher than the rate for all male offenders (7,557 male offenders for every 100,000 males aged 17 years compared to 1,754 male offenders per 100,000 males aged 10 years and over). The rate for females aged 17 years was 3,152 female offenders for every 100,000 females aged 17 years, which was more than six times the rate for all female offenders (497 female offenders per 100,000 females aged 10 years and over).

The predominant principal offences for youth offenders were theft (31%), public order offences (21%) and acts intended to cause injury (19%). The impact of age on patterns of offending 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. For theft the offender rate peaked at age 14 years. After age 17 years, the rate for theft decreased rapidly, replaced by public order offences as the most prevalent offence, reaching its highest rate at age 18 years. The rate for acts intended to cause injury peaked at age 17 years.

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