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  • Young offenders
    • Trend: overall
    • Table: summary (n)
    • Figure: age
    • Figure: sex
• Economic security
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• Glossary

What does this mean?

In Kids Stats a young offender is a child or young person who has participated in a criminal activity.

Why is it important to monitor?

Being involved in crime can have negative consequences for the children and young people who commit crime and their victims, who are also often children or young people [1].

Children and young people who engage in criminal behaviour tend to be involved in minor offences and their behaviour is short-lived [2].

For a small group crime and contact with the criminal justice system becomes a way of life [3], limiting their work options and isolating them from their social supports.

Indicator

The indicator used in Kids Stats to monitor young offenders is:

The number of persons aged 0-17 years with an appearance for a criminal matter finalised in the NSW Children’s Court, by defendant’s age at time of earliest offence, 1996 - 2007.

Children’s Court statistics only monitor young offenders who appear in the Children's Court. Many minor offences and first-time offenders may be dealt with in a less formal way by police or through court-diversion programs such as Youth Justice Conferencing.

Main findings

• The number of young people with at least one finalised criminal matter before the NSW Children’s Court has increased from 2003 to 2007 following a downward trend since 1996. Overall, the numbers in 2007 are almost 40% lower than those in 1996.
• Since 2003, the 10-14 year old age group has shown the greatest increase in the number of young people with at least one finalised criminal matter.
• From 1996 to 2007 the majority of finalised matters before the NSW Children's Court involved males. The involvement of males in these matters is over four times that of females.

Notes: [1] Baker, J. (1996). Juveniles in Crime- Part 1: Participation Rates and Risk Factors, NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research, Sydney.
[2] Ibid.
[3] Coumarelos, C. (1994). Juvenile Offending: Predicting Persistence and Determining the Cost-Effectiveness of Interventions, NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research, Sydney.

For details of the references and to find out more about the data follow the link to Glossary and further information.