Despite the limitations of official crime statistics and the difficulties in comparing juvenile justice processing across State jurisdictions, this analysis found little empirical evidence to substantiate various media claims that juvenile crime is "out of control" or that it is becoming more serious. Overall, only a small proportion of juveniles ever come into contact with the official justice system. Moreover, in five of the six States examined, the rate of official intervention either remained constant during the 1980's or showed only a slight increase. These statistics do raise other questions, however. In particular, the variation in juvenile processing rates from one jurisdiction to another raises the question of whether juvenile crime is actually greater in some geographic jurisdictions or is evidence of differing official responses to offending behavior. It is doubtful, for example, that Western Australian youths are twice as criminal as their New South Wales counterparts. The issue of the equitable delivery of justice in Australia is raised by these statistics. 2 tables, 5 figures, and 5 references