Juvenile Justice NMDS 2009

The Juvenile Justice NMDS contains information about young people under juvenile justice supervision in Australia. Young people under juvenile justice supervision are defined as those who are under the supervision or case management of a juvenile justice agency because they have:

• committed or allegedly committed an offence between the ages of 10–17 years

OR

• committed or allegedly committed an offence when aged over 17 years and who are treated as young people due to their vulnerability or immaturity.

It does not contain information on young people who are not supervised or case managed by a juvenile justice agency (for example, young people supervised by an adult correctional agency).

Files

The JJ NMDS contains five files: client file, order file, detention file, order types file and centre file.

Client file

The client file contains demographic information on young people under juvenile justice supervision.

Order file

The order file contains information about the supervised orders handed down by courts and parole boards to young people under juvenile justice supervision.

Detention file

The detention file contains information about the periods of detention of young people under juvenile justice supervision. A detention period relates to the period of time a young person is detained in a juvenile justice remand or detention centre in relation to a particular detention type. A new reception into a detention centre, a change in legal status and a transfer to another detention centre all start a new detention period, while a release from a detention centre, a transfer to another centre or another jurisdiction, a change in legal status, an escape and an abscond all end a detention period.

Order types file

The order types file links the orders available in jurisdictions with the national order categories.

Centre file

The centre collection contains details on the centres administered and operated by juvenile justice agencies where young people are detained while under the supervision of the relevant juvenile justice agency on a supervised order or legal arrangement.

Juvenile justice departments

The relevant juvenile justice departments whose clients are included in the JJ NMDS as at May 2009 are:
• Department of Juvenile Justice, New South Wales
• Department of Human Services, Victoria
• Department of Communities, Queensland
• Department of Corrective Services, Western Australia
• Department for Families and Communities, South Australia
• Department of Health and Human Services, Tasmania
• Department of Disability, Housing and Community Services, Australian Capital Territory
• Department of Justice, Northern Territory

In addition, other agencies have been included in the JJ NMDS where they supervise or case manage clients who are within the scope of the JJ NMDS, but are not administered by the above mentioned departments. These may include agencies such as police watch houses, for example.