Too many young people are ending up in our detention centres in most jurisdictions in Australia. How we respond to this fact will depend on how we see the problem.
We can see this as a law and order issue; young people commit crime, they do the time. If this is the case, then we had better start a Building the Custodial Revolution program because we will need more centres every year and they're not cheap!
While we're at it we had better take money out of a few services or infrastructure projects each year to fund the recurrent costs that will also increase.
Of course crime is a factor and sadly some young people commit very serious crimes for which we need centres to protect the community or even the young person. Young people should be held accountable for their actions.
But that does not explain (using NSW as an example) how almost 80 per cent of those on remand in a detention centre will not end up with a custodial sentence. Even if we ignore the international conventions that say custody should be a last resort, does it not seem a bit strange that we get the balance wrong 80 per cent of the time?
Even if we just see the problem through the lens of crime, we must also ask if custody is the best outcome for the community. Not in many cases, it would appear, as we also know that community based and restorative justice programs have lower rates of reoffending, therefore keeping the community safer.
Let's look beyond law and order for a moment. How else could we see the problem of young offenders in custody? What leads young people into crime in the first place?
Unfortunately there is no easy predictor of why some young people end up committing crimes and others in the same situation do not, but we do know the risk factors.
Around Australia young people are more likely to end up in custody if they are poor, Aboriginal or have a borderline or lower intellectual disability (IQ below 79), or any combination of these characteristics.
Bear in mind that we live in a wealthy country, that only 2.3 per cent of the population is Aboriginal, and only nine per cent of the population has an IQ below