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Legal and Policy

Youth Justice policy

With the Ministerial Statement, A Balanced Approach to Juvenile Justice in Victoria, a comprehensive package of initiatives was launched in Parliament on 17 August 2000 designed to:

  • divert young offenders from entering the youth justice system, or from progressing further into a life of crime,
  • expand pre-release, transition and post-release support programs for custodial clients to reduce the likelihood of reoffending,

  • provide better rehabilitation of high risk young offenders.

Legislation

The primary legislative basis for the Children's Court and Youth Justice program is the Children, Youth and Families Act 2005. The Children, Youth and Families Act requires that the developmental needs of children and adolescents must always be considered in the court's decision making.

The 'Dual track' system

Section 32 of the Sentencing Act 1991 legislates that some 18 to 20 year olds can receive a custodial sentence to a Youth Justice centre instead of an adult prison if the court believes the young person has reasonable prospects for rehabilitation, or is particularly impressionable, immature or likely to be subjected to undesirable influences in an adult prison.
This is commonly referred to as the 'Dual Track' system.

Role of the Children's Court

The Children's Court of Victoria is a specialist court with three divisions to deal with matters relating to children and young people aged 10 to 17 years at the time of offending.

These are:

  • Family Division
  • Criminal Division
  • Koori Court (Criminal Division).

The Family Division of the Children's Court deals with applications relating to the protection and care of children and young persons at risk and other related matters.

(This is distinct from the Family Court of Australia which is a Federal Court established under the Family Law Act 1975 (Commonwealth). The Family Court has responsibilities which include granting divorces (dissolution of marriage), and associated matters such as child residence and contact arrangements, maintenance and property issues.)

The Criminal Division of the Children's Court deals with matters relating to criminal offending by children and young people. The Children's Koori Court hears matters relating to criminal offending (other than sexual offences) by Koori children and young people. The jurisdiction of the Children's Koori Court is limited to those who plead or have been found guilty of an offence.

Youth Justice orders

The following orders are supervised by the Youth Justice program:

Adult courts

Courts and tribunals can be found at the Department of Justice website. http://www.justice.vic.gov.au.

Legislative change

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