Youth Justice Administration Act 2016

This

Act may be cited as the Youth

Justice Administration Act 2016.

The objects of this Act are—

to provide mechanisms for the establishment and proper administration of training centres, community based supervision services and other facilities and services relating to youths who offend against the criminal law; and

to provide for the safe, humane and secure management of youths held in training centres in the State; and

to provide for appropriate programs for youths who are in detention or under supervision in the community; and

to follow, to the extent practicable, international and national requirements or guidelines relating to the detention of youths; and

to promote the rehabilitation of youths by providing them with the care, correction and guidance necessary for their development into responsible members of the community and the proper realisation of their potential; and

to have regard to the rights of victims of crime; and

to have regard to the particular needs and circumstances of youths who are under the guardianship of the Chief Executive, or of whom the

Chief Executive has custody, under the Children and Young People (Safety) Act 2017 and who are residents of training centres or are required to be supervised in the community; and

to have regard to the particular needs and circumstances relevant to a youth's cultural identity and linguistic background; and

to promote, and endeavour to ensure compliance with, the Charter of Rights for Youths Detained in Training Centres;

and

to recognise the importance of family and community involvement and participation in administering youth justice; and

to support the reintegration of youths with the community as part of their rehabilitation; and

to promote community safety.

The

Minister, the Chief Executive, the Department and other persons and bodies involved in the administration of this Act are to be guided by the following principles in the exercise of their functions:

in exercising powers under this Act, consideration should at all times be given to promoting the well being and best interests of youths;

youths should be made aware of their obligations under the law and of the consequences of any breach of the law;

the management of residents of training centres, and youths who are subject to supervision in the community, should be designed to achieve their rehabilitation and development into responsible members of the community and the proper realisation of their potential;

the community, and individual members of it, must be adequately protected against violent or wrongful acts;

facilities and programs developed for the care, rehabilitation, detention, training, therapeutic treatment or other treatment of youths should—

be evidence based; and

be individually designed as much as reasonably practicable—

to take account of the youth's age, gender, gender identity, sexuality or sexual identity, cultural identity, developmental and cognitive capacity, ability or disability, and any special needs; and

to promote the health of the youth; and

to promote the educational and vocational training needs of the youth;

and

to address offending behaviours; and

be governed by a comprehensive assessment and case plan developed in a multi‑disciplinary framework; and

support a focus on connecting and reintegrating with family and community;

and

take into consideration the different traditions, cultural values and religious beliefs of ethnic or racial groups within the youth's community; and

emphasise individual responsibilities.

In addition to the principles set out in subsection (2), a person or body exercising a function or power under this Act in relation to an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander youth must—

observe the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Youth Justice Principle;

and

have regard to the particular needs and circumstances of Aboriginal or

Torres Strait Islander youths who are residents of training centres or are under supervision in the community; and

recognise the diversity of cultures within Aboriginal and Torres Strait

Islander communities.

In this Act, unless the contrary intention appears—

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Youth Justice Principle means the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Youth Justice

Principle as stated in the regulations;

Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander youth means a youth who—

is of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander descent; and

identifies himself or herself as being of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander origin and is accepted as such by the community with which he or she associates;

alcotest means a test by means of an apparatus of a kind approved for the conduct of alcotests under the Road

Traffic Act 1961;

analyst has the same meaning as in the Controlled

Substances Act 1984;

biological sample means a sample of urine, saliva or sweat;

Charter of Rights for Youths Detained in Training Centres—see

Part 4

Division 2;

Chief

Executive means the Chief Executive of the Department;

Child and Young Person's Visitor means the Child and Young Person's Visitor under the Children and Young People (Safety) Act 2017;

child of compulsory education age means a person who is 16 years of age;

child of compulsory school age means a child of or above the age of 6 years but under the age of 16 years;

community youth justice officer means—

an officer or employee of the Department assigned to the position of a community youth justice officer whose duties include the supervision of youths who are required to carry out community service or be subject to supervision in the community; or

a person authorised (individually or by class) by the Chief Executive to exercise the powers of a community youth justice officer;

Department means the administrative unit of the Public Service that is responsible for assisting a Minister in the administration of this

Act;

detention means detention in a training centre;

drug means—

alcohol;

or

a substance that is a prescription drug or a controlled drug under the

Controlled

Substances Act 1984;

drug test means an alcotest or urinalysis, or a prescribed procedure;

employee, in relation to a training centre, means an officer or employee of the Department whose duties include the supervision of youths detained in a training centre;

exercise, for a function, includes perform;

guardian, in relation to a youth, means—

a parent of the youth; or

a person (other than a Minister of the Crown) who is the guardian of the youth or has the immediate custody and control of the youth, and includes a person who has the custody and control of a youth who is under the guardianship, or in the custody, of the Chief Executive under the Children and Young People (Safety) Act 2017;

Guardian for Children and Young People means the Guardian for Children and Young People appointed under the

Children and Young People (Oversight and Advocacy Bodies) Act 2016;

prescribed procedure means a procedure, prescribed by regulation, consisting of the taking of a biological sample from a person for analysis for the purpose of ascertaining the presence of a drug in the body of the person from whom the sample was taken;

resident of a training centre means a youth detained in the centre;

safe room means a room (other than a resident's bedroom) in a training centre that is set aside for the safe detention of residents of the centre;

Training

Centre Review Board means the Training Centre Review Board established under the Young

Offenders Act;

Visitor means the Training Centre Visitor appointed under Part 3;

Young

Offenders Act means the Young

Offenders Act 1993;

youth means a person of or above the age of 10 years but under the age of 18 years and, in relation to proceedings for an offence or detention in a training centre, includes a person who was under the age of 18 years on the date of the alleged offence.

A reference in this Act or in the Young Offenders Act to an officer of the Department includes a reference to—

a person who, immediately before the commencement of this paragraph, holds an appointment as an officer of the Department under the Young

Offenders Act; or

a person who, immediately before the commencement of this paragraph, is designated as an officer of the Department under section 4A of the Young Offenders Act.

This

Act and the Young Offenders Act are to be read together and construed as if the 2 Acts constituted a single Act.

Accordingly, terms used in this Act and also in the Young Offenders Act have the same meanings in this Act as they have in that Act (unless the contrary intention appears).

The

Minister may, from time to time, by instrument in writing, delegate to the Chief Executive any powers, duties or functions under this

Act or any other Act.

The

Chief Executive may delegate any of the powers, duties, responsibilities or functions vested in, or delegated to, the Chief

Executive under this Act or any other Act—

to a specified employee of the Department; or

to an employee of the Department of a specified class; or

with the approval of the Minister—to any other suitable person.

A delegation under this section is revocable at will, and does not prevent the exercise of any power, function, duty or responsibility by the Minister or the Chief Executive.

Any power, function, duty or responsibility vested in, imposed on or delegated to the Chief Executive under this Act may, if the Chief

Executive is absent from or otherwise unable to perform the duties of office, be exercised by such other officer or employee of the

Department as the Minister may, by instrument in writing, authorise.

The functions of the Chief Executive include—

responsibility for ensuring that proper standards of administration are observed in the management of training centres; and

establishing community youth justice programs for the purposes of youths who are subject to supervision in the community; and

any other function conferred on the Chief Executive under this Act or any other Act.

The

Minister must promote the use of volunteers in the administration of this Act to such extent as the Minister thinks appropriate.

The

Chief Executive must, not later than 30 September in each year, submit to the Minister a report on—

the operation of this Act and the work of the Department in relation to the administration of this Act for the financial year ending on the preceding 30 June; and

any other matter as the Minister may direct.

The

Minister must, within 12 sitting days after receipt of a report under this section, cause a copy of the report to be laid before each House of Parliament.

Members of Parliament, judges, the Guardian for Children and Young People, the Training Centre Visitor, the Child and Young Person's Visitor and any other person authorised in writing by the Minister are entitled to visit a training centre.

There is to be a Training Centre Visitor.

The

Governor may appoint a person (who may be the Guardian for Children and Young People) to be the Visitor.

If the person appointed to be the Visitor is not the Guardian for

Children and Young People, the person will be appointed on conditions determined by the Governor and for a term, not exceeding

5 years, specified in the instrument of appointment and, at the expiration of a term of appointment, will be eligible for reappointment.

Subject to this section, the Guardian for Children and Young People will, if he or she is appointed to be the Visitor, hold office as such for so long as he or she holds office as the Guardian.

The

Governor may remove a person from office as the Visitor on the presentation of an address from both Houses of Parliament seeking the person's removal.

The

Governor may suspend a person from the position of Visitor on the ground of incompetence or misbehaviour and, in that event—

a full statement of the reason for the suspension must be laid before both Houses of Parliament within 3 sitting days of the suspension; and

if, at the expiration of 1 month from the date on which the statement was laid before Parliament, an address from both Houses of

Parliament seeking the person's removal has not been presented to the Governor, the person must be restored to the position.

The position of Training Centre Visitor becomes vacant if the person appointed to the position—

dies;

or

resigns by written notice given to the Minister; or

completes a term of appointment and is not reappointed; or

is removed from the position by the Governor under subsection (5);

or

becomes bankrupt or applies as a debtor to take the benefit of the laws relating to bankruptcy; or

is convicted of an indictable offence or sentenced to imprisonment for an offence; or

becomes a member of the Parliament of this State or any other State of the

Commonwealth or of the Commonwealth or becomes a member of a

Legislative Assembly of a Territory of the Commonwealth; or

becomes, in the opinion of the Governor, mentally or physically incapable of exercising satisfactorily the functions of the position.

The

Minister may appoint a person to act in the position of Training

Centre Visitor—

during a vacancy in the position; or

when the Visitor is absent or unable to exercise the functions of the position; or

if the Visitor is suspended from the position under subsection (6).

In exercising his or her functions and powers under this Act, the

Training Centre Visitor must act independently, impartially and in the public interest.

The

Minister cannot control how the Visitor is to exercise the Visitor's statutory functions and powers and cannot give any direction with respect to the content of any report prepared by the Visitor.

Note—

This provision does not derogate from any express power of the Minister under this Act.

The

Minister must provide the Training Centre Visitor with the staff and other resources that the Visitor reasonably needs for exercising the

Visitor's functions.