Media coverage - Sydney Morning Herald: Juvenile detainee findings a ‘damning indictment’

A government reporting revealing that half the young people in NSW juvenile detention facilities were abused as children, and nearly 40 per cent of the girls were sexually abused, is a "damning indictment of approach to juvenile justice," said Mission Australia's State Director Leonie Green in today's Sydney Morning Herald.

Herald journalist Adele Horin wrote that the Justice Health and Juvenile Justice report painted a bleak picture of young people in the state's juvenile prisons. It reveals that nearly one-third of the girls have been pregnant, with the average age of first having sex 13.1 years for Aboriginal youngsters and 13.6 for non-Aborigines.

Thirteen was also the average age the detainees reported first being drunk.

The 2009 NSW Young People in Custody Health Survey also states that more than 27 per cent of incarcerated young people (and 40 per cent of young women) had a history of foster or kinship care.

Ms Green said the current approach to juvenile justice relied too heavily on locking up young people and not enough on diversion programs.

"When you look at the population of juveniles in custody, how can anyone believe that detention is an appropriate response?" she asked.

"These young detainees are a product of years of violence and neglect, and many have intellectual disabilities."

According to today's Herald, between the last health study in 2003 and the 2009 survey, the proportion of incarcerated youngsters who are Aboriginal rose from 41.7 per cent to 47.8 per cent, while they represent 4 per cent of the state's adolescent population.

Read Adele Horin's article here 

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