NCJ Number
231964
Date Published
August 2010
Length
8 pages
Annotation
This paper presents an overview of the legislative and policy context of restorative justice practices for juveniles in each State and territory in Australia.
Abstract
Data for this paper were obtained from a variety of sources: published police and court data, and data provided to the Australian Institute of Criminology for an ongoing study on juveniles' contact with the Australian criminal justice system. Several factors are listed that prevent the direct comparison among the different jurisdictions in which restorative justice for juveniles is applied across Australia. These factors include: the varied legislative and policy contexts among the jurisdictions; the varied time periods used for reporting the data; the different methodologies used for collecting the data; and the different definitions used across jurisdictions for classifying a person as a juvenile. An overview of restorative justice legislation is provided for New South Wales, the Australian Capital Territory, Victoria, Queensland, Western Australia, South Australia, Tasmania, and the Northern Territory. A second section summarizes the available data on the numbers of juveniles referred by police to restorative justice measures for the following jurisdictions: New South Wales, the Australian Capital Territory, Queensland, Western Australia, South Australia, and the Northern Territory. A third section summarizes the data on the demographic characteristics of juveniles referred by police to restorative justice measures for the following jurisdictions: New South Wales, the Australian Capital Territory, Queensland, Western Australia, South Australia, and the Northern Territory. A listing of offense types dealt with through the use of restorative justice measures is provided for the following jurisdictions: New South Wales, the Australian Capital Territory, Queensland, Western Australia, South Australia, and the Northern Territory. Table and references