Incarcerated young people are among the most vulnerable youth in our community. There is now clear evidence that the health and wellbeing of this group is much worse than young people in general. Despite this, their health is seldom seen as a priority. In response to the absence of any national standards, the Royal Australasian College of Physicians has just launched a new policy to support the delivery of best practice health care for this highly socially disadvantaged population.

The HealthandWellbeing on Incarcerated Adolescents

The working party that developed this policy was chaired by Dr Andrew Kennedy, an adolescent physician with significant experience in the health issues affecting young people in detention. At the time he led this work, Dr Kennedy was the clinical leader in adolescent medicine at the Centre for Adolescent Health. He is now based at the Princess Margaret Hospital, Perth.

The Centre for Adolescent Health at the RCH runs the Adolescent Forensic Health Service, a health care service responsible for primary health care and forensic specific health care to 10-21 year olds in Parkville youth justice facilities. It is part of the Centre for Adolescent Health’s commitment to improving the health of the most disadvantaged young people.

For further information see Adolescent Forensic Health Service and the Centre Adolescent Health