YOUTH OFFENDERS

The number of offenders aged 10 to 19 years proceeded against by police increased by 4% (4,254) between 2008-09 and 2009-10 to 109,979 offenders. Youth offenders comprised nearly a third (29%) of the total offender population, well above this age group's proportion in the overall Australian population (15%). The over-representation of youth as offenders is reflected in the youth offender rate of 3,785 offenders per 100,000 persons aged 10 to 19 years.

Offender rates increased in each age from 10 years (314 offenders per 100,000 persons aged 10 years) up until the offender rates peaked at 17 years of age (6,361 offenders per 100,000 persons aged 17 years). The sharpest increase was observed between those aged 11 years and 13 years where the offender rate more than quadrupled, from 543 offenders per 100,000 persons aged 11 years to 2,207 offenders per 100,000 persons aged 13 years.


Sex

Of the offenders aged 10 to 19 years, the peak offender rate for females was much lower than for males, and occurred at an earlier age. The peak offending rate for females was at age 16 years (3,338 female offenders per 100,000 females aged 16 years), which was almost four times higher than the rate for all female offenders (862 female offenders per 100,000 females aged 10 and over). For males, the peak offending rate was at age 18 years (9,719 male offenders per 100,000 males aged 18 years), which was more than three times higher than the rate of all male offenders (3,029 male offenders per 100,00 males aged 10 and over).

Repeat Offenders

The following analysis on repeat offenders is based on the aggregate data for all jurisdictions, except Western Australia. National data are not available for police proceedings counts. For more information see Explanatory Notes paragraph 44.

In addition to young male offenders having higher rates of offending than female offenders, young male offenders were also proceeded against by police on average more often than young female offenders for each individual year of age, with the exception of those aged 10 and 11 years where both males and females were proceeded against by police 1.4 times (10 year olds) and 1.6 times (11 year olds). The average number of times proceeded against for a male offender peaked at 1.9 proceedings per offender, for the ages of 13, 14, 15 and 16 years. For females the highest average was 1.6 proceedings per female offender at the ages of 11 and 13 years.

Principal Offence

The predominant principal offences for youth offenders were theft (26%) followed by public order offences (18%) and acts intended to cause injury (16%). Between 2008-09 and 2009-10, the largest increases in youth offending rates were for the principal offences of theft (an increase of 70 offenders per 100,000 persons aged 10 to 19 years), miscellaneous offences (an increase of 33 offenders per 100,000 persons aged 10 to 19 years), and public order offences (an increase of 30 offenders per 100,000 persons aged 10 to 19 years). During this same period, decreased rates of youth offending were most evident for property damage and environmental pollution (a decrease of 23 offenders per 100,000 persons aged 10 to 19 years) and offences against justice (a decrease of 19 offenders per 100,000 persons aged 10 to 19 years).

The impact of age on patterns of youth offending is further illustrated by the following graph. From the age of 12 years there was a noticeable increase in the rate at which theft was the predominant principal offence, peaking at the age of 16 years. By the age of 18 years, public order offences had overtaken both theft and acts intended to cause injury as the most prevalent principal offence. The rate at which youth were proceeded against by police for illicit drug offences continued to increase for each year of age from 10 to 19 years, whereas offending rates for the other three offences all peaked and started to decrease prior to the age of 19 years.

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