Shocking truth about teen criminals in Queensland

QUEENSLAND teenagers are the worst in the country for re-offending. Now a new report reveals the youths most at risk of becoming career criminals.

MORE than half of all Queensland teenagers in the youth justice system re-offended within a year, according to a new report.

The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare report showed 55 per cent of young Queensland offenders released in 2015—16 returned within 12 months.

Queensland had the highest rate of youth recidivism after Western Australia for 2015-16 (the Northern Territory was not included).

The figures included both youth detention and community based sentences.

Over a longer time frame the rate of recidivism reduced.

The earlier a teen starts offending, the more chance they have of re-offending

Between 2000/01 to 2016/17 about 45 per cent of youth offenders from Queensland received more than one sentence.

This was compared to the national rate of 39 per cent.

The report found that the younger a person was when they first entered the youth justice system the more likely they were to re-offend.

Teenagers who served shorter initial sentences were more likely to re-offend than those serving longer sentences.

One explanation was teenagers serving shorter sentences were less likely to complete rehabilitative programs compared with those serving longer sentences.