Police diversion of young offenders and Indigenous over-representation

Abstract

Indigenous over-representation in the justice system is a challenge facing Australian society. Recently, it has been suggested that increased use of diversionary processes could reduce Indigenous over-representation. Reported in this paper are the findings of a project examining the 1990 offender cohorts’ contact with the Queensland juvenile justice system. The project focused on the extent of Indigenous over-representation, evidence of disparity in how Indigenous and non-Indigenous young people were processed and the impact of diversion on re-contact with the juvenile system. Findings indicated that Indigenous young people were more likely than non-Indigenous young people to have had greater levels of contact with the juvenile justice system. Furthermore, Indigenous young people were more likely than non-Indigenous young people to appear in court for their first offence. However, while young people who were diverted for their first offence were less likely than those who appeared in court to have further contact, this reduction only held for female non-Indigenous young people. The authors conclude that to reduce youth offending, programs need to be designed and implemented that address the complex needs of persistent young offenders.