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This page shows information about young people legally proceeded against by NSW Police for criminal behaviour. In NSW young people are aged between 10 and 17 years, inclusive. The minimum age of criminal responsibility is 10 years and children under 10 years cannot be legally proceeded against.
In NSW young people who offend can be proceeded against to court or they can be diverted from the court system. The Young Offenders Act 1997 allows young people who meet the eligibility criteria to be dealt with by Youth Justice Conferences, formal caution or formal warning (find out more).
Long term trends in youth crime
Below we present data showing the long term year trends in police proceedings against young people by method of legal proceeding, region, offence type and gender.
What offences are young people committing?
Certain types of offences (such as graffiti, vandalism, shoplifting and fare evasion) are committed disproportionately by young people. Conversely, very serious offences (such as homicide) are rarely perpetrated by young people. On the whole, young people are more frequently apprehended by police in relation to offences against property than offences against the person. The next chart shows the most frequent types of offences that NSW Police proceeded against young people for by method of legal proceeding, region and gender.
Where are the highest rates of youth offending?
We next turn to look at regional patterns in youth offending. The map below shows the location of young offenders by method of legal proceeding, offence type and gender.
Data file: Young people proceeded against by NSW Police (XLSX, 132.9 KB)
Last updated:
14 Mar 2025