Good morning/afternoon everyone. Today I will be speaking about indigenous juveniles, particularly concerning the high percentage of juveniles being Aboriginal. The current legislation concerning young offenders is The Juvenile Justice Act Queensland. The Juvenile Justice Act (QLD) is responsible for dealing with young people, indigenous or non-indigenous, who have committed or allegedly committed an offence while a 'juvenile'. In Queensland, juvenile justice legislation applies to those people who were aged 10-16 years of age at the time of the offence. The goal of youth justice is to provide a fair and balanced response to young people in contact with the youth justice system. This response holds young people accountable for their actions,…show more content… Overrepresentation refers to “having representatives in a proportion higher than the average.”(www.merriam-webser.com) Stephen Lawrence, principal solicitor with the Aboriginal Legal Service in NSW, stated that “The causes of the horrendous rate of Aboriginal juvenile over-representation are complex but in the rural and remote parts of the state, sustained and targeted policing and draconian sentencing trends are playing an undeniable role,” (www.creativespirits.info) Statistics show that:
46% of male juveniles are Aboriginal and 57% of female juveniles are Aboriginal;
81% of women in juvenile detention have been abused or neglected;
90% of Aboriginal offenders reappear in adult court;
20% increase in juvenile detention rates of Aboriginal youth (10 to 17 years old) in 2009-10 compared to the previous year;
And the over-representation of Indigenous juveniles in detention was highest in 2006–07, when Indigenous juveniles were 28 times as likely as non-Indigenous to be detained in a correctional