Youth Justice Act 2005

When sentencing a youth who has been found guilty of an offence, the Court must:

have primary regard to any impact of the offence on each victim of the offence; and

also have regard to:

the principles applying generally for disposing of charges for offences, except as those principles are modified by this Act; and

the general principles of youth justice set out in section 4.

The Court must consider any information about the youth or the offence that may assist the Court to decide how to dispose of the matter, and in particular must consider:

the nature and seriousness of the offence; and

any history of offences previously committed by the youth; and

the youth's cultural background; and

the age and maturity of the youth; and

any previous order in relation to an offence that still applies to the youth, and any further order that is liable to be imposed if the youth has not complied with the terms of the previous order; and

the extent to which any person was affected as a victim of the offence.

The Court must dispose of the matter in a way that is in proportion to the seriousness of the offence.

The Court must have regard to the fact that the rehabilitation of a youth may be facilitated by:

the participation of the youth's family; and

giving the youth opportunities to engage in educational programs and in employment,

The Court must take into account whether the youth has taken steps to make amends with any of the victims of the offence.