Part 1Preliminary

Part 1—Preliminary 1—Short title This Act may be cited as the Young Offenders Act 1993. 3—Objects and statutory policies (1) The object of this Act is to secure for youths who offend against the criminal law the care, correction and guidance necessary for their development into responsible and useful members of the community and the proper realisation of their potential. (2) The powers conferred by this Act are to be directed towards that object with proper regard to the following statutory policies: (a) a youth should be made aware of his or her obligations under the law and of the consequences of breach of the law; (c) the community, and individual members of it, must be adequately protected against violent or wrongful acts. (2a) In imposing sanctions on a youth for offending— (a) regard should be had to the deterrent effect any proposed sanction may have on the youth; and (b) if the youth has demonstrated a pattern of repeated offending, substantial weight should be given to the impact of that offending and the need to protect the safety of the community (whether as individuals or in general). (2b) In determining whether a youth has demonstrated a pattern of repeated offending for the purposes of subsection (2a)(b), matters dealt with by a police officer or family conference are to be disregarded (including matters of a kind referred to in section 17(2)). (3) Effect is to be given to the following statutory policies so far as the circumstances of the individual case allow: (a) compensation and restitution should be provided, where appropriate, for victims of offences committed by youths; (ab) compensation and restitution should also be provided, where appropriate, for persons who have suffered loss or damage as a result of offences committed by youths; (b) family relationships between a youth, the youth's parents and other members of the youth's family should be preserved and strengthened; (c) a youth should not be withdrawn unnecessarily from the youth's family environment; (d) there should be no unnecessary interruption of a youth's education or employment; (e) a youth's sense of racial, ethnic or cultural identity should not be impaired. (4) This section does not apply to a court imposing sanctions on a youth who is being dealt with as an adult, whether because the youth's conduct is part of a pattern of repeated offending or for some other reason, including, for example, the gravity of the offending (and the laws applying in relation to the sentencing of an adult apply to such a youth). 4—Interpretation (1) In this Act, unless the contrary intention appears— Chief Executive means the Chief Executive of the Department; Commonwealth Criminal Code means the Criminal Code set out in the Schedule to the Criminal Code Act 1995 of the Commonwealth, or a law of the Commonwealth that replaces that Code; community youth justice officer has the same meaning as in the Youth Justice Administration Act; Court or Youth Court means the Youth Court of South Australia; Department means the administrative unit of the Public Service that is responsible for assisting a Minister in the administration of the Youth Justice Administration Act 2016; designated member means the member of the Training Centre Review Board designated by the Attorney‑General in accordance with subsection (3) and includes any member designated by the Attorney‑General in accordance with that subsection to act in the absence of that designated member; domestic partner means a person who is a domestic partner within the meaning of the Family Relationships Act 1975, whether declared as such under that Act or not; DPP means the Director of Public Prosecutions; family conference—see Part 2 Division 3; guardian, in relation to a youth, means a parent of the youth or a person (other than the Minister) who is the guardian of the youth or has the immediate custody and control of the youth; home detention officer means an employee of the Department assigned to the position of a home detention officer or authorised by the Minister (individually or by class) to exercise the powers of a home detention officer under this Act; homicide means murder or manslaughter; immediate family of a victim means— (a) a spouse or domestic partner; (b) a parent; (c) a grandparent; (d) a child (including an adult child); (e) a grandchild (including an adult grandchild); (f) a brother or sister; injury means physical or mental injury, and includes pregnancy, mental shock and nervous shock; loss or damage includes costs and expenses, but does not include injury; Minister means the Minister to whom the administration of this Act is committed by the Governor or the Minister on whom, or to whom, the relevant Ministerial power or function is conferred or assigned under the Administration of Acts Act 1910; minor offence means an offence to which this Act applies that should, in the opinion of the police officer in charge of the investigation of the offence, be dealt with as a minor offence because of— (a) the limited extent of the harm caused through the commission of the offence; and (b) the character and antecedents of the alleged offender; and (c) the improbability of the youth re-offending; and (d) where relevant—the attitude of the youth's parents or guardians; offence to which this Act applies means any offence alleged to have been committed by a youth except an offence excluded by regulation; recidivist young offender means a youth who is a recidivist young offender under Part 3 Division 4 of the Sentencing Act 2017; registered victim includes a member of a victim's immediate family whose name is entered in the Victims Register; Registrar means the Registrar of the Court; serious firearm offender means a youth who is, pursuant to Part 3 Division 3 of the Sentencing Act 2017, a serious firearm offender; spouse—a person is the spouse of another if they are legally married; terrorism intelligence authority means a terrorism intelligence authority designated by regulations under section 74B of the Police Act 1998; terrorism notification means a terrorism notification under section 74B of the Police Act 1998; terrorist offence means— (a) an offence against Division 72 Subdivision A of the Commonwealth Criminal Code (International terrorist activities using explosive or lethal devices); or (b) a terrorism offence against Part 5.3 of the Commonwealth Criminal Code (Terrorism) where the maximum penalty is 7 or more years imprisonment; or (c) an offence against Part 5.5 of the Commonwealth Criminal Code (Foreign incursions and recruitment), except an offence against subsection 119.7(2) or (3) (Publishing recruitment advertisements); or (d) an offence against the repealed Crimes (Foreign Incursions and Recruitment) Act 1978 of the Commonwealth, except an offence against paragraph 9(1)(b) or (c) of that Act (Publishing recruitment advertisements); or (e) an offence of a kind prescribed by the regulations for the purposes of this definition; terror suspect—see subsection (4); training centre means a facility for the reception, detention, correction and training of youths who offend against the criminal law established under the Family and Community Services Act 1972 or the Youth Justice Administration Act; Training Centre Review Board means the Training Centre Review Board established under Part 5; victim of an offence means a person who suffers injury as a result of the offence; Victims Register—see section 5A; working day means a day other than a Saturday, Sunday or public holiday; 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; Youth Justice Administration Act means the Youth Justice Administration Act 2016; Youth Justice Co-ordinator—see Part 2 Division 3; Youth Parole Board means the Training Centre Review Board as constituted from time to time under Part 5 Division 3 to review the progress and circumstances of a recidivist young offender, or hear and determine any other matter relating to a recidivist young offender assigned to the Board under this Act. (2) A reference in this Act to an officer of the Department includes a reference to— (a) a person who, immediately before the commencement of this subsection, held an appointment made by the Governor as an officer of the Department; or (b) a person who, after the commencement of this subsection, is designated by the Minister as an officer of the Department under section 4A. (2a) A reference in this Act to a person who has suffered loss or damage includes a reference to a body that has suffered loss or damage. (3) The Attorney‑General may, from time to time, by written instrument— (a) designate a member of the Training Centre Review Board who is a member of the Court's judiciary as the designated member for the purposes of sections 41BA and 43; and (b) designate another member of the Training Centre Review Board who is a member of the Court's judiciary to act for the purposes of those sections in the absence of the designated member, and in any proceedings, a certificate purporting to be executed by the Attorney‑General certifying as to a matter relating to a designation under this subsection may be admitted in evidence and is proof, in the absence of proof to the contrary, of the matter so certified. (4) A youth is a terror suspect for the purposes of this Act if the youth— (a) is, or has previously been, charged with a terrorist offence; or (b) has ever been convicted of a terrorist offence; or (c) is the subject of a terrorism notification; or (d) is, or has previously been, the subject of a control order under Part 5.3 of the Commonwealth Criminal Code. (5) For the purposes of subsection (4)(a), a youth is only taken to have been charged with an offence if an information or other initiating process charging the youth with the offence has been filed in a court. 4A—Designation as officers of Department for certain purposes (1) The Minister may, by written notice, designate a person to whom this section applies as a person who is to be taken to be an officer of the Department for the purposes of this Act, the Youth Court Act 1993 and any other prescribed Act. (2) The Minister may, by written notice, revoke— (a) the appointment of an officer of the Department made by the Governor before the commencement of this section; or (b) a designation made under subsection (1). (3) This section applies to a person if— (a) the person is engaged by another person (the contractor) to carry out certain work in the course of and for the purposes of the contractor's business; and (b) the contractor is engaged, in the course of and for the purposes of a business, by the Minister under a contract, arrangement or understanding for the purposes of this Act or another Act; and (c) the Minister is satisfied that the person is a suitable person to be designated as an officer of the Department. (4) Section 74 of the Public Sector Act 2009 does not apply to a person designated under subsection (1). 5—Age of criminal responsibility A person under the age of 10 years cannot commit an offence. 5A—Victims Register (1) The Chief Executive must keep a Victims Register for the purposes of this Act. (2) The victim of an offence for which a youth is sentenced to detention or imprisonment or, if the victim is dead or under an incapacity or in prescribed circumstances, a member of the victim's immediate family, may apply in writing to the Chief Executive to have the following information entered in the Victims Register: (a) the applicant's name; (b) the applicant's contact address and (if supplied) telephone number or the name, contact address and (if supplied) telephone number of a person nominated by the applicant to receive information under this Act on his or her behalf; (c) any information (including the name of the youth) in the applicant's possession that may assist the Chief Executive to identify the youth. (3) The Chief Executive is entitled to assume the accuracy of information supplied under subsection (2) without further inquiry. (4) The Victims Register must also contain any other information prescribed by the regulations. (5) The Chief Executive must, when requested to do so by the Training Centre Review Board, provide the Board with information derived from the Victims Register. (6) If the Victims Register includes particulars of a person nominated by a registered victim to receive information under this Act on his or her behalf, any information or notification required or authorised by this Act to be given to the registered victim must, instead, be given to the person so nominated (and where such information or notification is to be given at the request of the registered victim, the person so nominated is entitled to make such a request as if he or she were the registered victim). (7) A person must not divulge information derived from the Victims Register, being information obtained (whether by the person or some other person) in the administration or enforcement of this Act, except— (a) as required or authorised by this Act or any other Act or law; or (b) as reasonably required in connection with the administration or enforcement of this Act or any other prescribed Act; or (c) for the purposes of legal proceedings arising out of the administration or enforcement of this Act; or (d) with the consent of the registered victim to whom the information relates.