Multiple outlets report that New South Wales youth detention facilities include children who are held while awaiting conviction or sentencing. The articles describe a system in which children in custody may be charged with a wide range of alleged offences, from minor matters such as shoplifting to more serious offences, including murder. Across reporting, the central contention is that most young people held in detention are not yet serving sentences. One shared statistic cited by all the sources says that less than four per cent of children in custody are sentenced, indicating that the majority are in detention before the outcome of legal proceedings. The articles frame this as evidence that detention centres are filled largely with children who have been charged but not convicted. The reporting does not dispute the seriousness of the allegations raised in some cases, but focuses on the proportion of children held without a sentence in place.