The Youth Justice Victims Register can give victims of crime some information about:
- the young offender’s sentence
- when the young offender is released into the community either on parole or at the end of their sentence.
The Youth Justice Victims Register can only provide information about a young offender who is serving a sentence of detention in a youth justice custodial centre for a crime against the person.
Young offenders are typically aged between 12 and 18 years old. The term ‘young offender’ can also refer to a young adult up to the age of 24 years old who is serving their sentence in a youth justice custodial centre instead of an adult prison.
Young offenders are usually dealt with in the Children’s Court but may be dealt with in adult courts. In Victoria, the law says that a child aged under 12 years old cannot be charged with a criminal offence. You can read more about the minimum age of criminal responsibility on the Department of Justice and Community Safety website. If you have been harmed by a child under 12 years old, this does not lessen the impact of what happened.
You can learn about available support options by calling the Victims of Crime Helpline on 1800 819 817.
Who can apply to go on the Youth Justice Victims Register
You are eligible to be placed on the Youth Justice Victims Register if a crime against the person was committed against you on or after 30 September 2026 and you are:
- a primary victim who was harmed by the offence
- the next of kin or primary carer of a person who died as a result of the offence
- the primary carer of a victim who is under 18 years of age
- the primary carer of a victim who is incapable of managing their own affairs.
You are also eligible if you are a victim with a documented history of family violence committed by the young offender.
You cannot be put on the Youth Justice Victims Register if the offence was committed against you before 30 September 2026, or the young offender:
- has not been sentenced (for example, on remand in custody awaiting sentencing, or on bail in the community awaiting sentencing)
- is an adult and detained in an adult prison (in this case, you may be eligible for the Victims Register)
- was sentenced to a community-based order
- is serving a sentence in another state or territory
- has finished their sentence or parole, or they are transferred interstate
- was found not guilty because of mental impairment
- was not sentenced because they were under the age of criminal responsibility.
Victims of family violence
If you apply to go on the register as a victim of family violence, the young offender’s sentence in a youth justice custodial centre does not need to be for:
- a crime against a person
- an offence against you
- a crime committed after 30 September 2026.
The young offender will not know who is on the Youth Justice Victims Register
The Youth Justice Victims Register is confidential. The young offender will not know:
- that you are on the Youth Justice Victims Register
- if you get information about them.
How to apply
You can apply to the Youth Justice Victims Register through our online application or by sending us a completed printable application. You can lodge one application to receive notification and information for up to five offenders.
Prepare documentation to support your application
You will be asked to provide supporting documentation during your application, including:
- your identification information (for example, a current Australian driver licence, birth card or certificate, a current passport, or Victorian Proof of Age card)
- evidence of your relationship to a victim if you are applying as the next of kin or primary carer
- information about the young offender and the offence.
Apply online
Applying online is an easy way to apply for the Youth Justice Victims Register.
If you choose to save a draft of your online application form and come back to complete it later, you will be provided with a unique link to your draft form. You can choose to send the link to your email. You can use the link to reopen your saved application. If you do not receive the email, check your spam folder.
Apply using a printable application form
You can apply using the printable application form if you prefer not to use the online application form.
You can submit your printable application form through email or post:
Email: yjvictimsregister@justice.vic.gov.au
Post: The Youth Justice Victims Register, GPO Box 4349, Melbourne VIC 3001.
How to appoint a nominee to receive information on your behalf
You can choose someone you trust to receive information from the Youth Justice Victims Register instead of you. You might choose to have someone else receive information, for example, because you know the information provided by the Register will be distressing to receive, or because you may prefer the other person to manage the Register’s correspondence for you. This person is referred to as your nominee.
Your nominee can be a:
- close friend
- family member
- case worker.
You can:
- change your nominee at any time
- remove your nominee or yourself from the Youth Justice Victims Register at any time.
Use an online form to appoint a nominee
You can apply for the Youth Justice Victims Register and appoint a nominee using one online form.
Use a printable form to appoint a nominee
You can use this printable nominee appointment form if you or your nominee prefer not to apply online.
Complete the printable nominee form and email or post it to the Youth Justice Victims Register. If you are using a printable application form, you can send them together:
Email: yjvictimsregister@justice.vic.gov.au
Post: The Youth Justice Victims Register, GPO Box 4349, Melbourne VIC 3001.
Get help with your application
If you need help completing an application, advice about eligibility or other options available to confirm your identification, you can:
- email yjvictimsregister@justice.vic.gov.au
- talk to your Victims Assistance Program case worker, if you have one
- call the Victims of Crime Helpline on 1800 819 817.
After you apply
Your application and the supporting documentation will be assessed against several criteria. It is important that you provide the required documentation when you submit your application.
The Youth Justice Victims Register may seek further information or clarification from Victoria Police or a Victorian Court.
If you are eligible:
- the Youth Justice Victims Register will contact you
- you will begin receiving information about the young offender.
If you are not eligible, you will be notified.
It is important that you keep your personal and contact details up to date, so the Youth Justice Victims Register can contact you in a timely manner.
If your personal and contact details change, you can let us know by email or phone:
Email: yjvictimsregister@justice.vic.gov.au
Victims of Crime Helpline: 1800 819 817.
Information the Youth Justice Victims Register can tell you
The Youth Justice Victims Register must notify you when the young offender is to be considered for parole.
If the young person is being considered for parole, the Youth Justice Victims Register will invite you to make a submission to the Youth Parole Board. The Board will consider your submission when deciding whether to grant parole.
Other information that the Youth Justice Victims Register may also give you includes:
- the length of the young offender’s sentence
- the date and circumstances in which the young offender is likely to be released
- if there is a decision made to release the young offender on parole or not to release the young offender on parole
- relevant conditions of the young offender’s parole
- if the young offender is transferred from a youth justice custodial centre to an adult prison, another state of Australia, or the custody of immigration officials (The Department of Home Affairs)
- if the young offender has been approved for certain types of temporary leave from custody (for example, leave to attend a funeral)
- if the young offender escapes from legal custody
- if the young offender absconds from parole
- if the young offender dies.
Information the Youth Justice Victims Register cannot tell you
Information that the Youth Justice Victims Register can share with you is limited by law. Part 12.4 of the Youth Justice Act 2024 sets out how the Youth Justice Victims Register operates.
The Youth Justice Victims Register can only share information during the period the young offender is:
- in a youth justice custodial centre
- released on parole.
There is information that cannot be given to a victim by the Youth Justice Victims Register and other criminal justice services such as Youth Justice Custodial Services and the Youth Parole Board.
Examples of information that cannot be shared with you include:
- the youth justice custodial centre where the young offender is serving their sentence
- where the young offender will live when they are released
- details of any programs the young offender attends or completes
- details of any assessments about the young offender
- details of any appeal hearings related to the case
- details of other crimes the young offender may have committed.
Information you receive must stay confidential
You (or your nominee) must not publicly share any information provided by the Youth Justice Victims Register.
This includes, but is not limited to:
- sharing the information with any media outlet such as television, newspaper, radio, internet, book, or via social media or other form of communication
- distributing the information in leaflets or brochures in letterboxes
- announcing the information at a meeting.
Sharing this information may be an offence and may result in:
- your registration being cancelled
- other penalties as described in section 661 of the Youth Justice Act 2024.
You can choose to share the information we give you with trusted family members or support persons (for example, a psychologist or lawyer). If you do, please let them know that the information is confidential. Nominees should only share information with the victim.
How long you will stay on the Youth Justice Victims Register
You will remain on the Youth Justice Victims Register until the custodial sentence, including any parole period finishes.
It may end earlier if:
- you request to be removed in writing
- the young offender is transferred to adult prison (note, you may then be eligible for the adult Victorian Victims Register)
- the young offender is transferred interstate or deported overseas
- the young offender dies
- you are registered on behalf of a child victim who reaches the age of 18 years, or a victim who has become capable of managing their own affairs, and has the legal capacity to apply in their own right
- the Youth Justice Victims Register is unable to contact you after making reasonable efforts.
When you might be removed from the Youth Justice Victims Register
You (or your nominee) could be removed from the Youth Justice Victims Register if:
- you have contravened the confidentiality requirements
- you have acted in a threatening or unlawful manner towards the young offender or their family
- you have been convicted of a violent or sexual offence involving a child
- the Children’s Court directs removal
- disclosure of information to you may endanger the security of a youth justice custodial centre or the safety or welfare of any person.
What law relates to the Youth Justice Victims Register
The Youth Justice Act 2024 (part 12.4) sets out how the Youth Justice Victims Register operates.
Privacy notice
Your information is stored securely by the Youth Justice Victims Register in accordance with the Privacy and Data Protection Act 2014 and the Health Records Act 2001.
The Youth Justice Victims Register collects the information provided on the application form to:
- assess your eligibility for inclusion on the Youth Justice Victims Register
- provide certain information about the status of the offender against whom you have registered.
When you apply for the Youth Justice Victims Register you provide your personal information voluntarily. You do not have to apply.
Young offenders are not informed when a person is placed on the Youth Justice Victims Register.
In certain circumstances, your information may be provided to Youth Justice Custodial Services, the Youth Parole Board or a law enforcement agency as defined in the Privacy and Data Protection Act 2014 so that those agencies can fulfil their obligations towards you as a victim.
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