Australia's first study of delinquent behaviour among 12 and 13-year-olds has found mothers who smoked during pregnancy were more likely to have children who were at risk of criminal behaviour later in life.

The study conducted by the Australian Institute of Family Studies surveyed about 5,000 families and found fighting, truancy and destruction of property were the most common crimes in that age group.

Researchers also discovered children living in a less-affluent areas were not more likely to offend and that overall less than 10 per cent of 12 and 13-year-olds had committed an offence.

The institute's Dr Ben Edwards said just under 10 per cent of boys and girls in that age group were involved in delinquent behaviour.

"Things like stealing, damaging property, skipping school, fighting is the most common," Dr Edwards said.

"One in four boys are engaged in fighting in the previous year and about 8 per cent of girls.

"There are some weapons that are involved. One in 10 boys are carrying weapons. Whether they're in fact used is difficult to ascertain. But it is likely that there is some serious fights based on the evidence that we collected."

Dr Edwards said the researchers looked at 35 factors that made it more likely for a child aged around 12 to commit a crime.

"The most common reason stems from the family but also the children themselves," he said.

"We found that mothers who smoke during pregnancy were more likely to have children who were at risk of criminal behaviour later on.

"Children's attention problems at four to five years of age as well was important. At 11 years of age, significant peer problems and higher levels of harsh parenting were also associated with high levels of criminal behaviour."

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Dr Edwards said the link between smoking during pregnancy and delinquent behaviour may stem from neurobehavioral development.

"There is some research that suggests it's associated with the neurobehavioral development suggesting that sort of ADHD or attention hyperactivity disorders at greater levels. But this is the first study we've identified this," he said.

"We did find that mothers who drank during pregnancy were less likely to have children who were engaging in criminal delinquent behaviour. We don't understand the reason for that. Smoking during pregnancy was the one that was really significant."

However, Dr Edwards said the most important finding of the study was that a child at risk did not necessarily go on to commit crimes.

"So what we found was that social address and the like are not destiny," he said.

"We find that children are engaging in criminal delinquent behaviour across the board.

"We were able to identify two in five who were at risk but who were not involved in criminal delinquent behaviour and conversely those who we didn't consider to be at risk, one in five actually were involved in criminal delinquent behaviour.

"So the factors that we've highlighted are not destiny and a public health campaign for parents to be aware, but also to support children in terms of regulating their behaviours is part of the solution.

"And that needs to be across the board, not just in targeted communities or families."

The drinking and smoking habits of fathers were not looked at in detail for the study.