COURT ACTIONS

Court actions largely comprise the laying of charges against an alleged offender that must be answered in court. Offenders may be taken into custody, granted bail or issued with a summons for these charges pending an appearance in court. It should be noted that not all court proceedings initiated by police will proceed to a criminal court. The proceeding may be withdrawn or changed from a court to a non-court action at a later stage of the investigation.

The number of court action proceedings increased between 2012-13 and 2013-14 in:

• Queensland (by 15,258 court actions, or 13%);
• Victoria (by 4,197 court actions, or 6%);
• New South Wales (by 3,779 court actions, or 4%); and
• Northern Territory (by 1,992 court actions, or 21%).

The number of court action proceedings decreased in:

• South Australia (by 5,348 court actions, or 16%);
• Tasmania (by 547 court actions, or 6%); and
• Australian Capital Territory (by 188 court actions, or 9%). (Tables 20 – 26)

The majority of proceedings in 2013-14 were court actions. The proportion of police proceedings that were court actions differed across the selected states and territories, from 47% in New South Wales and South Australia to 82% in Queensland.

The proportion of police proceedings that were court actions increased between 2012-13 and 2013-14 for each of the selected states and territories except New South Wales, the Northern Territory and South Australia. The largest increase occurred in Victoria, where the proportion of court actions increased from 52% to 57%. The largest decrease occurred in South Australia, where the proportion of court actions decreased from 59% in 2012-13 to 47% in 2013-14. For information on movements in Method of Proceeding in South Australia, see Explanatory Notes paragraph 57.

Principal offence

Acts intended to cause injury was the most prevalent principal offence for court actions for all selected states and territories, except Queensland. In order of prevalence, Acts intended to cause injury accounted for:

• 36% (or 4,197 proceedings) in the Northern Territory;
• 34% (or 30,742 proceedings) in New South Wales;
• 28% (or 19,158 proceedings) in Victoria;
• 24% (or 561 proceedings) in the Australian Capital Territory;
• 22% (or 6,404 proceedings) in South Australia; and
• 22% (or 1,958 proceedings) in Tasmania.

In Queensland, the most prevalent principal offence for court actions was Illicit drug offences, which accounted for 21% (or 26,879) of all court actions. (Tables 20-26)