Violence has declined substantially in the Western world over the last 800 years, despite periodic spikes due to wars, pogroms, and crime waves (Pinker, 2011). In recent decades, especially there has been a remarkable decline in most forms of crime, including crimes involving violence, in both the United States (US; Levitt, 2004) and other developed countries (European Commission, 2014). The picture in Australia is similar except for non-lethal violence. Property crime victimisation rates fell in the order of two-thirds from the mid- to late-1990s and a 29% decline in homicide victimisation rates occurred over the same period (Australian Institute of Criminology [AIC], 2013). However, for non-lethal violence the pattern in Australia leveled off in the new millenium and did not exhibit the spectacular plunges recorded in the United States. Disturbingly, Australian rates of self-reported victimisation for violence are consistently at the higher end relative to the range reported for countries participating in the International Crime Victimisation Surveys (van Dijk et al., 2007). This then is the Australian puzzle: in recent years property crime has declined substantially in line with other countries, but unlike most other countries our rates of violence are static or only down by a small amount. Part of the solution to this puzzle may lie in the changing nature of youth offending. Violent acts make up a higher proportion of all youth offences (Bricknell, 2008) and comparative statistics suggest Australian youth have high rates of youth violent offending compared to other nations (see below).