Just released: our report analysing sentencing outcomes for children held on remand in Victoria https://bit.ly/2EEjp8b  THREAD ...

In the 10 years to 30 June 2019 the number of children held on remand (awaiting trial) on an average day in Victoria has more than doubled - from 42 to 90. Remanded children now account for almost half of all children in detention.

Evidence shows that holding children on remand interrupts their positive social connections, is very expensive, and increases their risk of committing more crime. This underpins the importance of avoiding remanding children where it is safe and appropriate to do so.

Our ‘Children on Remand’ project aims to find out how many children don’t get custodial sentences at the end of a case for which they’ve been remanded, and to identify the characteristics of remanded children who are less likely to get a custodial sentence.

We found that there were 442 children remanded for 660 cases in the 12 months to 30 June 2018. Of those 660 cases, two-thirds (66%) did not result in a custodial sentence. Of the 34% that did, 5% were ‘time served’ sentences, while 29% had to spend longer in custody.

Those 442 children remanded in 2017–18 spent a total of nearly 29,000 days on remand. About 18,000 days were experienced by children who went on to receive a custodial sentence (costing approx $26M) & 11,000 days were experienced by children who didn’t (costing approx $15M).

The vast majority of remanded children are male (89%), and most are aged 16 or 17 years. Indigenous children are over-represented (15%) and the other 85% are almost equally non-Indigenous Australian (42%) or children from CALD backgrounds (43%).

However, demographics of children on remand do not correlate with their likelihood of receiving a custodial sentence. Male and female children received custodial sentences at near-identical rates, as did Indigenous and non-Indigenous children, and children across all ages.

The factors most correlated with children held on remand not receiving a custodial sentence are:
- being bailed before the end of a case
- spending less time on remand
- not having been remanded or sentenced previously
- being charged with a property damage or threat offence.

Based on these findings and stakeholder consultation, our new report identifies some strategies to reduce the risk of certain children being remanded, including the possibility of a 24-hour Victoria-wide bail system designed specifically for children.

There’s still time to register for today’s online report launch with Emeritus Professor Arie Freiberg AM and the project team: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/report-launch-sentencing-outcomes-for-children-held-on-remand-tickets-117717278549