Source: (1997) Paper presented at the Juvenile Crime and Juvenile Justice – Toward 2000 and Beyond conference. Adelaide, South Australia, 26-27 June. Canberra: Australian Institute of Criminology.
In the wake of an inquiry into the South Australian juvenile justice system, reform of the system was envisioned in the Young Offenders Act of 1993. The envisioned system emphasized certain principles (accountability, community protection, deterrence, and victims’ needs and rights), and reorganized the structural approach to juvenile justice (a new police cautioning system, and conferencing as a diversionary option). One aim was to provide a more culturally appropriate system for aboriginal youths. A few years after the Act, Wundersitz asks whether it is achieving its goals. Toward this end, she provides a statistical overview of aboriginal involvement in the new juvenile justice system and finds that aboriginal youth remain over-represented in the system.
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