Trauma-informed sentencing practices in youth: A review of 25 years of sentencing remarks in New South Wales, Australia

Childhood maltreatment and abuse are well-established risk factors for later offending and persistent involvement with the criminal justice system. Despite this, the extent to which these experiences are acknowledged and addressed within youth remains unclear. This study explored trauma informed practices in sentencing remarks involving youth in New South Wales (NSW) through qualitative content analysis of 122 sentencing remarks (2000–2024). The analysis was guided by the FOUR Rs of trauma-informed practice – the degree to which remarks can be interpreted as showing evidence they realise the presence of childhood maltreatment, recognise its impact, respond through trauma-informed practices, and resist further traumatisation. Findings indicate increasing acknowledgement of trauma in sentencing remarks (54.3%). However, explicit links between maltreatment and offending were identified in only 44.2% of remarks and procedural responses (53.5%) were not consistently evident across cases. These findings highlight the need for consistent, intentional integration of trauma-informed approaches in youth sentencing.