Disability workers say military academies for youth offenders will unfairly target people with intellectual disabilities

The Government's announced Oranga Tamariki will lead the programme - with a pilot being launched mid-year.

IHC advocacy director Tania Thomas says their data shows people with intellectual disabilities are 1.5 times more likely to have a conviction -- so they could be over-represented in the group of youths going to the bootcamps.

She says they think it's unfair, because they're not aware of any evidence that bootcamps like this work.