Young Offenders Act 1997 (NSW)

Young Offenders Act 1997 No 54

An Act to establish procedures for dealing with children who commit certain offences through the use of youth justice conferences, cautions and warnings instead of court proceedings; and for other purposes.

Part 1 Preliminary

1 Name of Act This Act is the Young Offenders Act 1997.

2 Commencement This Act commences on a day or days to be appointed by proclamation.

3 Objects of Act The objects of this Act are— (a) to establish a scheme that provides an alternative process to court proceedings for dealing with children who commit certain offences through the use of youth justice conferences, cautions and warnings, and (b) to establish a scheme for the purpose of providing an efficient and direct response to the commission by children of certain offences, and (c) to establish and use youth justice conferences to deal with alleged offenders in a way that— (i) enables a community based negotiated response to offences involving all the affected parties, and (ii) emphasizes restitution by the offender and the acceptance of responsibility by the offender for his or her behaviour, and (iii) meets the needs of victims and offenders, and (d) to address the over representation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in the criminal justice system through the use of youth justice conferences, cautions and warnings.

4 Definitions In this Act— adult means a person who is of or over the age of 18 years. broadcast includes broadcast by radio, television or any on-line service. caution means a formal police caution relating to an offence given under Part 4. child means a person who is of or over the age of 10 years and under the age of 18 years. conference means a youth justice conference convened or proposed to be convened under Part 5. conference administrator means a person appointed as a conference administrator as referred to in section 61. conference convenor means a person appointed as a conference convenor under section 60. exercise a function includes perform a duty. function includes a power, authority or duty. graffiti offence means an offence committed under the Graffiti Control Act 2008. investigating official means— (a) a police officer, or (b) a person appointed by or under an Act and whose functions include functions in respect of the prevention or investigation of offences, prescribed by the regulations for the purposes of this definition. on-line service means a service provided by or through the facilities of a computer communication system and accessed through a telecommunications network that allows for— (a) the input, output or examination of computer data or computer programs, or (b) the transmission of computer data. parent of a child includes— (a) a guardian of the child, and (b) a person who has the lawful custody of the child, but does not include the father or mother of the child if the father or mother, as the case may be, has neither guardianship nor custody of the child. person responsible for a child means— (a) a parent of the child, or (b) a person who has the care of the child (whether or not the person has the custody of the child). relevant conference administrator, in relation to a conference, means the conference administrator who appointed the conference convenor for the conference. Secretary means the Secretary of the Department of Communities and Justice. specialist youth officer means a member of the NSW Police Force appointed as a specialist youth officer for the purposes of this Act by the Commissioner of Police. traffic offence has the same meaning as it has in the Children (Criminal Proceedings) Act 1987. victim has the meaning given by section 5. youth liaison officer means a member of the NSW Police Force appointed as a youth liaison officer for the purposes of this Act by the Commissioner of Police.