The criminal law response to adolescent family and dating violence is understudied in Australia. The aim of the present study was to examine the charges and sentences adolescents face when they perpetrate acts of violence against family members or intimate partners, and to better understand the personal circumstances of these adolescents, including whether they have been diagnosed with a mental illness, whether they have a criminal history and whether they have been subject to child protection interventions. We undertook a two stage study analyzing unpublished statistical data and case files held by the Youth Justice department in Queensland, Australia. We found that the most commonly charged offence was contravention of a family violence protection order in the context of adolescent dating violence. We found that many of the adolescents charged with adolescent family and dating violence related offences faced significant challenges and that Indigenous young people were significantly overrepresented in family violence related charges, especially for contraventions of a family violence protection order. Whilst criminal law responses are uncommon in parent–child and sibling violence contexts, family violence protection orders are over-utilized as a response to adolescent dating violence. Such orders when breached result in criminalization of the young person. Resources should to be (re)directed away from the criminal law system and into community-led, place-based initiatives that address the drivers of crime and incarceration.

澳大利亚对青少年家庭和约会暴力的刑法应对措施尚未得到充分研究。本研究的目的是调查青少年在对家庭成员或亲密伴侣实施暴力行为时面临的指控和判刑，并更好地了解这些青少年的个人情况，包括他们是否被诊断出患有精神疾病、他们是否有犯罪历史以及是否接受过儿童保护干预。我们进行了一项分两个阶段的研究，分析了澳大利亚昆士兰州青年司法部门持有的未发表的统计数据和案例文件。我们发现，最常被指控的罪行是在青少年约会暴力的背景下违反家庭暴力保护令。我们发现，许多被指控犯有青少年家庭和约会暴力相关罪行的青少年面临着重大挑战，并且土著年轻人在家庭暴力相关指控中的比例明显过高，尤其是在违反家庭暴力保护令的情况下。虽然刑法反应在亲子和兄弟姐妹暴力的情况下并不常见，但家庭暴力保护令被过度用作对青少年约会暴力的反应。违反此类命令会导致对年轻人的刑事定罪。资源应该（重新）从刑法系统转移到社区主导的、以地方为基础的举措，以解决犯罪和监禁的驱动因素。