"This content was published prior to legislative changes enacted on 1 July 2005 and 23 April 2007. Information on legislative changes can be accessed on the Legislative Reform in the Youth Justice System page."

In a study of all Victorian youth justice clients over one year, reoffending was followed up for two  years after completion of their court order. The total population was 1,527 young people, of whom 955 (62.5 percent) were clients for the first time and 572 (37.5 percent) were clients previously on court orders supervised by the  youth justice program. As detailed in the report, Recidivism Among Victorian Juvenile Justice Clients 1997-2001, a lower reoffending (or recidivism) rate of 41.4 percent was found among first-time clients, compared with a rate of 60.7 percent among previous clients, whose recidivism had been established through their placement on further supervised orders. This finding supports the importance of offending history as a predictive risk factor for recidivisim. Overall, 48.6 percent of the total sample reoffended. It was also found that recidivism varied according to type of court order with higher recidivism rates for higher tariff level orders, in particular, custodial orders.

For both first-time and previous juvenile justice clients, recidivism rates during the supervised period of their order were not markedly different. The highest risk period for reoffending was the first year following order completion, when recidivism rates were three to four times higher than during the second year. These findings suggest that supervised orders have a positive effect in reducing recidivism risk through the support and direction provided during the period of statutory supervision. Addressing the needs of young offenders through individualised client assessment and planning , and appropriate interventions, is an effective response to prevent further offending.