Juvenile detention in NSW – A system in crisis
Every day a thousand young people are incarcerated in detention centres across Australia. New South Wales, Western Australia, and the Northern Territory are the states with the highest number of incarcerated juveniles.
The number of young people in custody in NSW has significantly increased since December 2007. This increase is due to a range of factors. First, political pressure emphasising more law and order policies has resulted in a series of measures that have had a significant impact on young people. Second, changes to the bail laws have meant that it is now more difficult for a young person to make subsequent applications for bail. Third, the close monitoring of young people on bail by NSW Police has resulted in the arrest and detention of young people for breaches of bail regardless of the nature of the breach or their circumstances.
Consequently, not only has there been an increase in the number of young people in detention, but also an increase in the number of young people remaining in custody on remand for longer periods of time. This has led to the overcrowding of young people in juvenile detention placing them significantly at risk both in terms of their safety and in relation to their increased exposure to the juvenile justice system itself.
In NSW, the “lock ‘em up” policy combined with tougher policing has seen an explosion in the number of children in custody. In the last two years, the number of young people inside on remand has risen by 32 per cent.
This is in stark contrast with the Victorian approach. Juveniles in Victoria are less likely to be jailed and more likely to be placed in a diversion program. As a result of this approach, authorities in Victoria lock away one young person for every four who are put behind bars in NSW. In NSW there is now a problem of overcrowding in juvenile detention centres and the incidence of violence is increasing.
Data on the number of young people in detention demonstrates a system under stress. The NSW Auditor-General’s report to Parliament for 2007 states that annual numbers in detention held steady at around 3,600 until a recent jump to 4,236 and another significant increase in the 2007-08 period to 5081.
The then Minister for Juvenile Justice, Barbara Perry conceded that increases in the number of young people in detention was due to policing practices and amendments to the NSW Bail Act. The amendments severely limited the number of applications that could be made for bail by young people on remand unless that young person was not initially represented by a lawyer, or a court decided that new facts or circumstances had arisen since the previous application.
It is clear that these new provisions are applied to young people regardless of the nature of the offence, with detrimental consequences for them and the community. The nature of bail conditions imposed on a young person and the combined effect of police monitoring has had a significant impact on the number of young people entering juvenile detention.
Internal figures from the NSW Department of Juvenile Justice reveal the dramatic increase in the number of assaults. In 2007, there were 187 assaults by detainee on detainee. In 2008, this figure had jumped to 242. The first six months of 2009 shows a massive increase to 258. At this rate assaults will almost triple since 2007.
Disturbingly, there has been a dramatic increase in incidents of self-harm. In 2007, it was 68. In 2008, the figure jumped to 160. For the first six months of 2009, it has already climbed to 83. These figures have led some experts to suggest the system of juvenile justice in New South Wales is in crisis.
Children in NSW detention centres can be locked up to 18 hours a day. Keeping a teenager in detention costs taxpayers $150,000 per year. Critics of the Department of Juvenile Justice believe that more money should be spent on acting early and diverting young people from a life of crime. They believe that not enough of the Department’s $170 million budget is spent on diversionary programs.
Victoria has the lowest incarceration rates in the country and it spends half of its juvenile justice budget on community programs. In 2008, the daily average of Victorian juveniles in detention was 83 compared with 390 in New South Wales.
Most of the children who are locked up in New South Wales are on remand, that is, they are not serving a sentence after being found guilty and convicted. The NSW Law Reform Commission report, Young Offenders, described significant and well documented reasons why the numbers of young people in custody on remand was a poor outcome for young people and the community, these included:
• The detrimental effects on the ability of the young person to prepare for their court appearance.
• The fact that young people convicted of charges do not receive a custodial sentence.
• It was important to prevent associations forming in detention centres by providing opportunities to be diverted from the juvenile justice system.
• The inability of young people to maintain community and family ties, and the disruption to schooling or employment.
• Juvenile detention centres may be located a long way from a child’s family, particularly for girls, with fewer detention centres available.
Moreover, the NSW Government’s policy on juvenile detention contravene the juvenile justice principles of using detention as a last resort, as articulated in Article 37 (b) of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child which states: “The arrest, detention, or imprisonment of a child shall be in conformity with the law and shall be used only as a measure of last resort and for the shortest appropriate period of time.”
The NSW Auditor-General’s report, Addressing the Needs of Young Offenders, found that the rate of reoffending for young people will depend on the action taken in response to the offence. If a young person’s needs are not addressed, then the risk of reoffending is high.
The NSW Government is at a crossroads with juvenile detention policy. It can continue with the “get tough on crime” mentality where we will see a downward spiral for young offenders who will graduate to the ‘big house’. Without more funding and focus on early intervention strategies, rehabilitation or diversionary programs run by community organisations, the State’s justice system is condemning hundreds of young people to life in jail.
References: NSW Auditor-General Report to Parliament, vol.5, 2007; NSW Auditor-General Performance Audit, Addressing the Needs of Young Offenders, 2007; NSW Department of Juvenile Justice Annual Report 2007-2008, chapter 5, 2008; Youth Justice Coalition, Bail Me Out: NSW Young Offenders and Bail, 2009.