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Children who have 'early contact' with youth justice (YJ) are a group of significant policy interest. Understanding circumstances which precede or co-occur with YJ contact can support the development of preventive investments and inform debates about systemic reform, such as 'raise the age'. Using whole-of-population administrative data from the SA Better Evidence Better Outcomes Linked Data (BEBOLD) platform, we examine differences between children who have early (i.e. between the ages of 10 and 13 years) versus late (i.e. at age 14 or older) YJ contact, relative to the general population. Children born 1991–2022 were followed from birth to age 18 (N = 249,995). Compared to the late-contact group, children with early contact experienced more serious YJ contact (91% versus 59% experienced custody); were more disadvantaged at birth (e.g. 66% versus 45% born into jobless families); had more serious child protection contact by age 10 (26% versus 12% experienced out-of-home care); and experienced mental health-related hospitalisations from ages 12–18 (43% versus 34%). Relative to the general population, both groups were characterised by significant social and economic disadvantage, child protection contact and mental health challenges. The need for investment in early prevention to divert children from the justice system is clear. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]