4525.0 - The National Criminal Justice Statistical Framework, Jul 2001  
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 31/08/2001   
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Contents >> Appendix 3: Sources of data

The ABS has already established a number of statistical collections relating to crime and the criminal justice system. The following describes the national collections developed by the NCCJS and outlines the type of information produced and for which national standards have already been developed:

  • The NCCJS works closely with police agencies to produce the publication Recorded Crime, Australia (ABS Cat. No. 4510.0). This publication contains counts of the number of victims of selected offence categories for each calendar year. Information about the sex and age of victims, the relationship of the offender to victim, the type of location where the criminal offence occurred, use of a weapon in the commission of the offence and the outcome of police investigations is also presented.
  • The NCCJS works with the courts agencies to produce the publication Higher Criminal Courts, Australia (ABS Cat. No. 4513.0). This presents caseflow information about the number of defendants pending, initiated and finalised within the Supreme and District/County courts for each financial year. Data are also provided on the method by which defendants enter and exit the courts, change of plea from the commencement to the conclusion of the case, the sex and age of defendants and duration figures showing the elapsed time between key points in the defendant's case.
  • The NCCJS works with the correctional services agencies to produce two publications: Corrective Services, Australia (ABS Cat. no. 4512.0) and Prisoners in Australia (Cat. No. 4517.0). The Corrective Services, Australia publication is issued on a quarterly basis and provides monthly counts of persons in custody together with information on the sex of prisoners, the type of prison custody, the legal status of the persons in custody and information on indigenous and federal prisoners. Prisoners in Australia is an annual publication that contains the results of the prison census showing the numbers and characteristics of prisoners as at June 30 each year.

The NCCJS has also had responsibility for conducting a periodic household survey of crime victims and producing the publication Crime and Safety, Australia (ABS Cat. No. 4509.0). The ABS also collects national information pertaining to crime through other survey vehicles. The Population Survey Monitor (no longer being used, as of December, 2000) has been used to gather information on satisfaction with services provided by police and public perceptions of police integrity, crime problems and safety in public places (ABS Cat. No. 4103.0). Specific national surveys have also been conducted to obtain information on women's safety the latest published as Women's Safety, Australia 1996 (ABS Cat. No. 4128.0) and characteristics of the legal industry last published as the Legal Services Industry, Australia 1998-99 (ABS Cat. No. 8667.0). More sources on related crime and justice information can be viewed on the Crime and Justice Theme Pages.

Other ABS sources:

Australian Standard Classification of Cultural and Ethnic Groups (ABS Cat. No. 1249.0)

Australian Standard Classification of Education: Information Paper (ABS Cat. No. 1271.0)

Australian Standard Offence Classification (ABS Cat. No. 1234.0)

Other sources:

The Report on Government Services by the Steering Committee for the Review of Commonwealth/State Service Provision is available from the Productivity Commission at http://www.pc.gov.au



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