Young people who pass through youth justice die at six times the rate of their peers
Conversations about the youth justice system typically focus on crime and punishment. In Australia, this has fueled increasingly populist and punitive youth justice policies like Queensland's Adult Crime, Adult Time policy or Victoria's Adult Time for Violent Crime legislation.
The global systematic review of studies on mortality after contact with the youth justice system revealed a concerning trend. Young people who had been involved in the justice system, regardless of jurisdiction, were found to die at a rate more than six times higher than their peers in the general population. This finding was consistent across studies in Australia, Estonia, Scotland, and the United States, all involving young individuals under the age of 20.
Further analysis within the review identified that these disparities extended beyond preventable causes such as drug overdose, suicide, and homicide. Youth justice experience also increased the risk of death from accidental injuries, communicable diseases like HIV and pneumonia, and noncommunicable diseases like cancer. The impact of this heightened mortality risk remained evident long after the individuals had completed their contact with the youth justice system.
Interestingly, gender differences were also observed. While the overall death rate for justice-involved males was six times higher than their male counterparts in the general population, the risk of death for justice-involved females was a staggering 12 times higher. This stark difference underscores the importance of gender-responsive policies and services in addressing the health and social needs of justice-involved young people, particularly females.
The study emphasizes that the high rates of premature death among justice-involved young people are largely preventable. It argues that youth justice settings, often the first point of contact for many young people with complex needs, should be seen as opportunities to identify and address these unmet health and social needs. However, the review suggests that the care provided within these settings often falls short, leaving young people vulnerable to death shortly after their release.
Therefore, it is crucial to ensure that the care available to these young people is age-appropriate, trauma-informed, gender-responsive, culturally safe, and well-coordinated, even after their contact with the youth justice system ends.
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