Sentencing youth offenders

Part of the Sentences for youth offenders topic

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In short

If your child pleads guilty or is found guilty of an offence in Queensland, they may be sentenced to a youth justice order.

A pre-sentence report may be written to help the court understand your child and what led to the offence to help the court determine the sentence.

Pre-sentence reports

• Interviewing and questions
• Viewing the report

A magistrate or judge may ask for a pre-sentence report to help decide what an appropriate sentence would be.

The report gives the court information about:

• what led to your child breaking the law
• sentence options
• programs and services available to help them.

The court must ask for a report if it is considering:

• an intensive supervision order
• a conditional release order
• a detention order.

Interviewing and questions

A Youth Justice officer will interview you and your child to understand:

• why your child broke the law
• the offence
• how they feel about it
• how your child feels about any victims
• their family situation
• your child’s school or work
• any consequences or punishment they have already experienced
• your child’s behaviour since those consequences
• any other information that the court has requested.

The Youth Justice officer might also talk to you about the court’s options for sentencing and whether your child would agree to them.

The Youth Justice officer may also interview other people and they may speak to you more than once.

The interview process usually takes about 3 weeks. Sometimes it is less if the court needs to report sooner.

Viewing the report

The Youth Justice officer will talk to you about what the final report says. The court decides whether you can see it.

Copies go to:

• your child's solicitor
• the police prosecutor
• the court.

You can also talk to your child’s solicitor about the report including if you have a problem with the report.

Court orders for youth offenders

Your child may be sentenced to a youth justice order. There are different types of orders. There are rules your child must follow when they have an order.

See Rules for being on a youth justice order.

The court may give your child extra conditions for their order. They must also follow these.

If your child breaks the rules, their Youth Justice officer will talk to them about this. They may give your child a written warning. If your child does not follow the rules, they may have to go back to court. The court may decide to give them a different order.

The types of orders are:

• restorative justice order
• probation order
• community service order
• graffiti removal order
• probation
• intensive supervision order
• conditional release order
• detention order
• supervised release order.

Restorative justice order

The court can make a restorative justice order if they think your child is suitable to participate in a restorative justice conference.

The court can only make this order for an offence that an adult could go to jail for.

Your child will have up to 12 months to complete their order and any agreement.

They will:

• meet with a Youth Justice officer
• participate in a special meeting that can include:
  • their victim
  • the police
  • other community representatives
  • do something meaningful to repair the harm they have done.

You will go to the meeting to support your child.

Probation order

A probation order will help your child find ways to stop offending while they continue to live in the community.

A Youth Justice officer will supervise your child while they are on this order. They will engage your child in programs help them learn about the reasons they offend and how to stop the behaviour.  We may also refer your child to programs or other organisations to help them.

While your child is on a probation order they must regularly see their Youth Justice officer. We will tell them how often this is. They may also have home visits.

These orders are usually for up to 2 years. In more serious cases this can be extended up to 3 years.

Community service order

For the court to make this type of order your child must agree to do community service.

The court can only make this order if your child is both:

• found guilty of an offence that an adult could go to jail for
• suitable to perform community service.

If the court gives your child a community service order they must do unpaid work in the community for a certain number of hours:

• up to 100 hours if under 15 years old, with no more than 4 hours a day
• up to 200 hours if over 15 years old, with no more than 8 hours a day.

The court will also set a timeframe for your child to complete the work. This can be 12 months or less.

Youth Justice organises the work and arranges for your child to be supervised while they’re doing it. This may be with a Youth Justice youth worker or with an agency.

Graffiti removal order

The court will sentence your child to a graffiti removal order, if they plead guilty or are found guilty of intentionally damaging property with graffiti.

It is a mandatory sentence.

Your child will make amends to the community for their crime by doing a graffiti removal program. In the program they will do unpaid work removing graffiti in the community.

Youth Justice will:

• organise the graffiti removal work
• arrange for your child to be supervised
• allocate your child a Youth Justice officer.

The court will decide how much graffiti removal work your child must do depending on their age:

• 12-year-olds can be sentenced to up to 5 hours graffiti removal work
• 13- and 14-year-olds can be sentenced to up to 10 hours graffiti removal work
• 15-year-olds and older can be sentenced to up to 20 hours graffiti removal work.

The court will also set a time frame for this work to be completed in. This can be up to 12 months.

Probation order

A probation order helps young offenders find ways to stop offending while they continue to live in the community.

These sentences are usually up to 2 years, sometimes 3 years in more serious cases, and involve activities and programs to prevent reoffending.

Intensive supervision order

For the court to make an intensive supervision order your child must be under the age of 13 at the time of sentence by a court.

It is usually only made if your child:

• has already been on other orders
• is likely to commit further offences.

Intensive supervision orders are up to 6 months long.

While your child is on an intensive supervision order they must frequently see their Youth Justice officer. They may also have home visits.

While your child is on the order they will do:

• programs to help learn why they offend and how to stop reoffending
• school or an alternative education program
• activities to help them be involved in family and their community in a positive way.

Conditional release order

Your child may be sentenced to a detention order and the court may decide not to send them immediately to detention. Instead the court may make a conditional release order. This means they will be released into the community straight away, to take part in a structured program with strict conditions.

Usually, the court will only make this order if your child has been on other orders.

Your child will meet with a Youth Justice officer before they are sentenced. They will put together a program proposal.

The program proposal includes:

• programs to stop reoffending
• work, school or training activities
• activities to help your child be involved in family and their community in a positive way.

The court can only make a conditional release order if your child agrees.

While your child is on a conditional release order, they must frequently see their Youth Justice officer. They may also have home visits.

Detention order

If your child is sentenced to a detention order it means they will spend a set amount of time in a youth detention centre. The order starts on the day your child is sentenced.

There are 2 parts of a detention order:

• time in a youth detention centre
• time spent in the community on a supervised release order.

The court will decide how much of your child’s order they must spend in detention.

Life in detention follows a set routine. There are rules your child must follow when they are in detention.

Supervised release order

The court will decide how much of your child’s detention order they must spend in the detention centre. The rest of their time is spent in the community on a supervised release order.

This type of order helps your child re-integrate with their community and family.

Before your child leaves the detention centre, they will meet with:

• a detention centre officer
• a Youth Justice service centre officer
• a transition officer
• other relevant stakeholders.

The meeting will talk about:

• the conditions of the order
• when your child must engage with Youth Justice
• a plan for your child’s release.

When your child first leaves detention, they must meet with a Youth Justice officer. You also go to this meeting. It will help your child understand what they must do.