Taxpayers foot record amount to jail young people
As detention numbers rise across Australia, taxpayers spend $1.1 billion a year imprisoning children; This means an increase of 100 million dollars in one year.
The Productivity Commission’s latest Report on Government Services, published late on Thursday, shows youth detention spending has risen by $400 million over five years.
According to data, the cost of youth detention is an average of $1.3 million per child per year, or more than $3,600 per day.
The report states that the number of detentions in Australia, which was 792 in 2020, increased to approximately 860 in 2025.
Former national children’s commissioner and now Justice Reform Initiative spokeswoman Anne Hollonds said record funds were being poured into a system that was failing to reduce crime.
“We are spending record amounts of money on a system that returns almost all children,” Ms Hollonds said in a statement.
“Approximately 85 percent of children released from custody return to inmate supervision within 12 months.”
He described youth recidivism rates as a “devastating policy failure” for which Australians are paying the price.
“Rather than reducing crime or promoting community safety, detention increases trauma, alienates children from education, family and society, and increases the likelihood they will continue to offend,” Ms Hollonds said.
In Victoria, the cost exceeds $2.6 million per child per year; this is the highest figure of any state or territory.
Ms Hollonds took aim at Victorian policies such as the “adult time policy for violent crime” targeting young people aged 14 to 17, announced in late 2025.
“Just two years ago youth detention numbers in Victoria were falling,” he said.
“We’re now seeing a rapid reversal with punitive policies being enacted. This is the same failed path we’ve seen elsewhere.”
Indigenous children continue to be overrepresented in youth detention centres, the report states.
On an average day, 734 children are imprisoned across Australia, and 62 per cent of these are Indigenous youth.
The number of Indigenous children in custody in NSW has increased by 86 per cent since 2020-21.
95 per cent of children detained in the Northern Territory are Indigenous.
Prisons also experience more severe violence for young people; There are 36 recorded incidents in 2024-25 where a young person in custody was injured for a serious assault.
According to the report, this number is higher than the 20 incidents recorded in 2023-24.
Ms Hollonds argued that more funding should be invested in prevention, early intervention and community-led solutions to keep children out of prison.
