If a court places a child on a Probation order, the child is assigned a Youth Justice Officer who will be their case manager for the duration of the order.
During the course of the Probation, the child is linked in to services such as drug and alcohol counselling, housing assistance, general counselling and anger management.
They are also given educational and development assistance – whether it be secondary school, TAFE or an apprenticeship, in paid employment or obtaining a driver’s license.
s 380 Children, Youth & Families Act 2005
Court may order probation
(1) If the Court finds a child guilty of one or more offences, whether indictable or summary, the Court may, with or without conviction, place the child on probation for a specified term—
(a) not exceeding 12 months; or
(b) not exceeding 18 months if the offence or one of the offences is punishable by imprisonment for a term of more than 10 years—
and not extending beyond his or her twenty-first birthday.
(2) The Court may only make an order under subsection (1) if the child has consented to the order being made.
The court can order that the child comply with any special conditions the court feels necessary or desirable. Some common special conditions are:
- to reside at a particular address;
- to abstain from alcohol or illicit drugs;
- to attend school;
- to abide by a curfew; or
- to undergo any counselling or treatment the court feels necessary.
The court may also wish to defer sentencing (after a plea of guilty is entered) and order a pre-sentence report from Youth Justice before making its final determination under section 414 of the Act.
