The Children's Court received $600,000 in funding from the former Napthine government ahead of last year's state election to establish a 12-month pilot of a youth diversion program.

Court Services Victoria last week posted a request for tender for organisations to run the program on the Victorian Government Tenders website.

A spokeswoman for Attorney-General Martin Pakula said the diversion program had had bipartisan support.

"[It] aims to help young people overcome the underlying causes of their criminal behaviour," the spokeswoman said. "Young people who complete the diversion program can avoid a criminal record, and the stigma that goes with it. This increases their chances of success when they try to get a job and start a new life."

The Coalition last year promised to use the pilot to inform its expansion of the diversion program across Victoria if re-elected.

Mr Pakula's spokeswoman said the government would need to evaluate the results before it committed to further funding.

"The previous Liberal government did not fund the program beyond the pilot stage," she said.

Under the pilot, the Children's Court will refer young people to be assessed on their suitability for diversion programs, such as counselling, employment services and drug and alcohol services.

The programs would be based on recommendations for the person and their type of offending, she said.

Diversion programs could also involve training, restitution and mental health services.

The court would monitor how the young person complied with the programs and whether they completed them, she said.

They will be available at some metropolitan and regional sites, which have not yet been decided.

Currently, diverting young offenders away from prison is largely informally arranged by police officers, who can choose to caution rather than charge them with an offence. They can also recommend to the court that offenders participate in a police-run one-day high and low ropes course.

The Magistrates' Court diversion program for adult offenders has been in place for 12 years. This is under review, with senior lawyers concerned about the police's veto power over offenders' applications for diversion programs.

Tiffany Overall, a spokeswoman for Smart Justice for Young People, said the youth diversion program would ensure young offenders avoided a criminal record early in life.

"It gives them a second chance that they might otherwise not have had," she said.

Ms Overall said that offenders in youth diversion programs were less likely to reoffend than those who went on to detention for their crimes.

Sixty per cent to 70 per cent of children who completed a non-government youth diversion program, Right Step, at Moorabbin Children's Court did not reoffend.

A long-term youth diversion program, she said, would provide more information on the best ways to prevent reoffending and the resources needed for youth services particularly in regional areas.