Youth Justice Act 1992
An Act to provide comprehensively for the laws concerning children who commit, or who are alleged to have committed, offences and for related purposes
Part 1 Preliminary
1 Short title
This Act may be cited as the Youth Justice Act 1992.
2 Objectives of Act
The principal objectives of this Act are—(a)to establish the basis for the administration of juvenile justice; and(b)to establish a code for dealing with children who have, or are alleged to have, committed offences; and(c)to provide for the jurisdiction and proceedings of courts dealing with children; and(d)to ensure that courts that deal with children who have committed offences deal with them according to principles established under this Act; and(e)to recognise the importance of families of children and communities, in particular Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, in the provision of services designed to—(i)rehabilitate children who commit offences; and(ii)reintegrate children who commit offences into the community.
3 Youth justice principles
(1)Schedule 1 sets out a charter of youth justice principles.(2)The principles underlie the operation of this Act.
4 Definitions
The dictionary in schedule 4 defines particular words used in this Act.
5 Note in text
A note in the text of this Act is part of the Act.
6 Meaning of criminal history of a child
(1)In this Act, criminal history, of a child, means—(a)each caution administered to the child for an offence; and(b)each finding of guilt against the child for an offence, other than a finding of guilt that is set aside or quashed; and(c)each restorative justice agreement made by the child for an offence; and(d)all decisions, findings and orders, other than interim orders, made, and actions taken, by a court, Childrens Court judge, Childrens Court magistrate or other judicial officer—(i)under section 245, 246 or 246A in relation to the child’s contravention of a community based order; or(ii)under section 247 on an application made by the child or the chief executive in relation to a community based order made against the child; or(iii)under section 252D, 252E or 252F in relation to the child’s contravention of a supervised release order.(2)If a child fails to comply with a restorative justice agreement that forms part of the child’s criminal history, the child’s criminal history also includes any action taken by a police officer under section 24(3).(3)This section applies despite the Criminal Law (Rehabilitation of Offenders) Act 1986.(4)In this section—action includes a decision to take no further action.child—(a)in relation to a child against whom a community based order has been made, see section 236; and(b) for a child on release from detention under a supervised release order, see section 252A.interim order means an order made by—(a)a magistrate under section 252D(5); or(b)a court under 252E(3)(c) or…