Youth Justice Act 1992

The chief executive may, by written notice given to the referring authority, return the referral if—

the chief executive is unable to contact the child after reasonable inquiries; or

the chief executive has made reasonable requirements of the child to attend an interview about the process and the child has failed to attend as required; or

the chief executive considers it necessary for a victim of the offence to participate and the victim does not wish to participate or can not be located after reasonable inquiries; or

during the restorative justice process the child denies committing the offence to the chief executive, a convenor or victim of the offence; or

the chief executive is satisfied that an appropriate restorative justice agreement is unlikely to be made within a time the chief executive considers appropriate; or

the chief executive considers that the referral is unsuitable for a restorative justice process; or

a conference is convened for the referral and the convenor ends the conference without an agreement being made.

The notice must state the reasons for returning the referral, and the reasons may be considered by a court in any later proceeding for sentencing the child for the offence.

The referring authority must make reasonable efforts to inform the child that the referral has been returned.