The Department of Communities and Justice holds records for a number of divisions including Youth Justice NSW (YJ). You can request records from Youth Justice under the Government Access (Public Information) Act 2009 (GIPA). When requesting records, it is important to include the following in your application:
- the type of records you’re requesting
- specific timeframes for the information sought.
Including these details will help us process your application faster.
YJ was established in November 1991, therefore information that pre-dates the establishment date is not available from Youth Justice.
YJ does not hold records relating to the functions of the NSW Department of Education, NSW Children’s Court, NSW Police Force or Justice Health. Justice Health records includes psychiatric and other medical reports.
Due to changes in technology and record keeping since 1991, the type of record you request will depend on the relevant date range, and include:
- Client Information Management System (CIMS) assessment reports – background reports, psychological reports and court reports (available from 2000 onwards).
- Client Information Management System (CIMS) Case notes – information about contact with Youth Justice Officers and Community Case Workers. This is available from approximately 2003 onwards.
- Client Information Management System (CIMS) custodial history - This lists dates of admission and discharge including transfers to other centres and is available from 1989.
- Client Information Management System (CIMS) Incident reports – Incidents are serious events when police may be notified, where disclosure of assaults are recorded and include occasions of a detainee being taken to hospital. This is available from 1991 onwards.
- Client Information Management System (CIMS) Misbehaviour reports – Misbehaviour reports are distinct from Incident reports as they concern matters of lesser severity. These are available from 2010 onwards.
- Community (C) File – Created and stored by YJ community offices, the community file contains records about a young person while under community supervision that cannot be recorded digitally such as referral forms or certificates. It may include case notes for older date ranges pre-dating those available in CIMS. These are available from 1991 onwards.
- Detainee (D) File – These contains records about the young person while in custody such as risk assessments, authorised absences and incidences. These are available from 1991 onwards. Please note that prior to 2010, detainee files were supplemented by Casework files.
- Casework (CW) Files – A custodial file containing case work conferences and case plans - originally incorporated in the detainee file then supplementing the detainee file. These are available for the period 2000 to 2010.
- Specialist File – Created when there has been a psychological assessment or counselling and/or intervention with a youth justice client either in custody or in the community. Prior to 2007, S files were contained in the Allied Health File (AHF) that was jointly owned by Youth Justice and NSW Health. The specialist file is a standalone file from 2007, detainees with a year of birth before 1990 will not have YJ Specialist file.
