Youth Justice Act 1992

When a child is found guilty of an offence before a court, the court may—

reprimand the child; or

order the child to be of good behaviour for a period not longer than 1 year; or

order the child to pay a fine of an amount prescribed under an Act in relation to the offence; or

subject to subsection (2), order the child to be placed on probation for a period not longer than—

if the court is not constituted by a judge and section 175A does not apply—1 year; or

if the court is constituted by a judge and neither section 175A nor 176 applies—2 years; or

if a restorative justice agreement is made as a consequence of a presentence referral relating to the child—order the child to perform his or her obligations under the agreement; or

order that the child participate in a restorative justice process as directed by the chief executive; or

subject to subsection (2), if the child has attained the age of 13 years at the time of sentence—order the child to perform unpaid community service for a period not longer than—

if the child has not attained the age of 15 years at the time of sentence—100 hours; or

if the child has attained the age of 15 years at the time of sentence—200 hours; or

if the child has not attained the age of 13 years at the time of sentence, make an intensive supervision order for the child for a period of not more than 6 months; or

order that the child be detained for a period not more than—

if the court is not constituted by a judge and section 175A does not apply—1 year; or

if the court is constituted by a judge and neither section 175A nor 176 applies—the shorter period of the following—

half the maximum term of imprisonment that an adult convicted of the offence could be ordered to serve;

5 years.

An order of the following type may only be made against a child found guilty of an offence of a type that, if committed by an adult, would make the adult liable to imprisonment—

a probation order under subsection (1)(d);

a community service order;

an intensive supervision order.

For subsection (1)(db), the offence the child is found guilty of is taken to be referred by the court to the chief executive for a restorative justice process.

A court may make an order for a child’s detention under subsection (1)(g) with or without a conditional release order under section 220.

This section has effect subject to the Childrens Court Act 1992.