Youth justice

The youth justice system works with children and young people who have been charged with (or convicted of) an offence.

Most people in Australia’s youth justice system are supervised in the community while serving community-based orders, but 16 per cent are placed in detention or remand centres.

Compared to their peers, they have a higher prevalence of physical and mental health conditions, suicidal behaviours, substance abuse disorders, neurodevelopmental disabilities such as ADHD or autism, and infectious diseases including sexually transmitted infections.

Screening for health and developmental difficulties, while adolescents are in the justice system, can identify unmet needs – often for the first time – and tailor evidence-based support to improve health outcomes once they come into contact with the youth justice system.

To make these improvements we need greater investment in transitional programs and public health services.

Who does it affect?

The system in Australia usually includes those aged 10 to 17 at the time of the alleged offence but there are age variations in different states and territories, with some aged 18 or older.
Young people who encounter the criminal justice system are disproportionately drawn from society’s most vulnerable and marginalised populations.
There is often a high prevalence of complex, co-occurring health problems set against a backdrop of entrenched disadvantage.
Males comprise 81 per cent of those under supervision, and Indigenous youths make up half of those aged 10 to 17 under supervision and in detention.

Our youth justice research

Young people in juvenile detention have a disastrous health profile that is associated with poor health and social outcomes, including premature mortality. Despite their extreme vulnerability, remarkably little is known about patterns of healthcare use in young people after release from detention or other forms of youth justice supervision.

This missing knowledge is urgently needed to inform targeted, evidence-based interventions to reduce morbidity and mortality in our most vulnerable young people. There is a compelling case for investment in health and job training as they enter the justice system and return to the community. Innovations in monitoring the health of adults in contact with the criminal justice system should extend to young people, where the best opportunities for early intervention lie.

Our Justice Health Group seeks to generate world-class evidence on the health and health service experiences of justice-involved populations. It advocates for evidence-informed policy to improve the health and wellbeing of these disadvantaged young people. Research on their health needs is central to addressing the health inequalities they face.

The group works closely with health and justice agencies in Australia, leading researchers internationally, and key international agencies.

Our research focuses on the health of young people in Australia’s youth justice system, as programs to improve their health and prospects lead to a better quality of life and are more likely to reduce reoffending than “getting tough on crime.”

Impacts of our research

We co-led the first global review of the health of detained adolescents. It found they experience poor physical and mental health outcomes and much higher prevalence of mental health disorders, suicidal behaviours, substance use disorders, neurodevelopment disabilities and sexually transmitted infections than their peers.
We examined how poor health and poverty drive children into the youth justice Learning disabilities, poor mental health and childhood trauma or adversity increase the risk, amplified by inequality and disadvantage. Up to one in three have ADHD or fetal alcohol spectrum disorder, up to half have traumatic brain injury, up to 80 per cent have psychiatric disorders and up to 96 per cent adverse childhood experience.
Our study in Victoria had similar findings with young offenders showing extremely high rates of drug dependence, hazardous alcohol use, poor mental health, depression, self-harm, and risky sexual behaviour. Findings highlighted the need for health services to be scaled up to improve their health outcomes and reduce reoffending.
The Centre of Research Excellence in Global Adolescent Health combines research groups and global partnerships to generate research, investment and advocacy including for youth in justice systems in Australia, China, and Indonesia.
We lead a global commission whose work includes promoting health equity and justice for young people, and our prevention studies reveal how schools and neighbourhoods can be healthier and more nurturing for them.
We found ADHD costs Australia $307 million annually in crime and justice system costs.

Our vision

Our goal is to improve the lives of young people in contact with youth justice systems in Australia and overseas. Diagnosing and treating health conditions, providing support to improve health and social outcomes and reduce re-offending, and advocating on their behalf to make this happen will turn lives around.

Where to next?

One exciting study currently underway, led by Prof Stuart Kinner, has linked the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare’s (AIHW) nationwide youth justice records 2000-2019 (N~95,000 young people) with national emergency departments, hospital, Medicare, Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS), and National Death Index data.

This will be the first-ever project to rigorously and comprehensively characterise health service use and mortality outcomes for young people in contact with the youth justice system and identify risk and protective factors associated with mortality to inform targeted intervention.