Police diversion of young offenders and Indigenous over-representation

Abstract

Indigenous overrepresentation in the justice system is a challenge facing Australian society. It has recently been suggested that increased use of diversionary processes could reduce this overrepresentation. Reported in this paper are the findings of a project examining the 1990 offender cohort's contact with the Queensland juvenile justice system. The project focused on the extent of Indigenous over-representation, evidence of disparity in how Indigenous and non-Indigenous young people were processed and the impact of diversion on re-contact with the juvenile system.