Youth Justice, part of the Department of Human Services (DHS), is responsible for supervising community and custodial orders given to children and young people aged 10-18 years that have been issued by the South Australian Courts. In some circumstances Youth Justice supervises people who are over 18 years due to their age at the time of the offence or the length of their sentence.
Youth Justice:
- provides supervision of young people on court orders such as bail, obligation and suspended sentence through Community Youth Justice (CYJ)
- completes court reports as requested by the court
- supports the completion of community service
- monitors home detention
- supports young people on remand and detention
- manages the Adelaide Youth Training Centre (AYTC) (Kurlana Tapa - New Path)
- provides services to young people and families attending the Youth Court for criminal matters with Youth Court advisers
- provides program coordination and psychological services through Youth Justice Psychology Services
- provides referrals to other case and support services - this can include:
Youth Justice recognises the diversity of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people and works in partnership with their support networks, family or carers, and service providers to improve family and cultural connections. Youth Justice provides Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people access to specialist Aboriginal programs that focus on problem solving and cultural identity.
Youth Court advisers
Youth Justice provides advisers in the Adelaide Youth Court and some suburban courts. They are not there all the time. Youth Justice Court Advisers are youth workers or social workers and may also be a case manager or community services officer. The role of the court adviser can include:
- assessing a young person for bail
- talking with parents, guardians and carers about where the young person can live
- providing other information about the young person to the court
- providing information on cultural information and cultural supports
- providing information on programs and community supports.
The court adviser is available to support young people and their families with advice and, in some instances, direct support regarding the young person's offending circumstances.
Court-ordered reports
There are a range of reports that the court may ask for to aid them in sentencing or to provide information about a young person’s progress while on the court order.
Youth Justice is responsible for completing:
- Section 32 (S32) Pre-sentence background report
- bail report
- home detention report
- progress report
- psychological report
- Training Centre Review Board progress report.
If the court has requested a report for the next court appearance, someone from Youth Justice will contact the young person about completing the court report as soon as possible.
Youth Justice will complete the report using direct information from the young person, their parents, guardians or caregivers, other support people and previous Youth Justice history.
