Projects
Differences in Recorded Crime Statistics (DiRCS)
The NCSU project investigating the differences in recorded crime statistics is progressing. The project has 8 sub-projects which investigate the funnelling of crime information from people's experience of crime, their reporting to police, police recording of the crime and the extraction of these data to produce the national Recorded Crime Victims Statistics collection. The outcomes will include a series of recommendations for the directions of national recorded crime victim statistics.
Sub-project 1, comparing the 1998 National Crime and Safety Survey with Recorded Crime Statistics data, has been completed and was signed off by the NCSU Board of Management in May 2003. Sub-project 2, involving the investigation of state and territory police procedures, with particular emphasis on the investigation of differences in these procedures which may impact on crime recording practice, is also completed. The NCSU is also finalising development for sub-projects 3 and 6. These two sub-projects involve sampling crime reports from each state and territory to investigate selected factors that may impact on the creation of criminal incidents in a police recording system from reports made to police, and the recording of national recorded crime offences from these criminal incidents.
Development of the Offender Based Statistics (OBS) collection
The framework for the OBS collection was completed in February 2003 and endorsed by the NCSU Board of Management in May 2003. This collection sources data on alleged offenders recorded by state and territory police, and will assist in evaluating the effect of crime and justice policy at the national level.
The first collection cycle is underway, with data collected for the 2002-03 recording period. These data were evaluated and a preliminary report presented to the NCSU Board of Management in September 2003. The collection includes counts of unique offenders, offenders each time proceeded against, and types and numbers of offences. Data items include date of birth, sex, Indigenous status, method of proceeding against alleged offender and offence types.
National Information Development Plan for Crime and Justice
Work on the National Information Development Plan (NIDP) for Crime and Justice is progressing, and consultations have taken place in all states and territories.
The consultations have uncovered a substantial number of priority information needs, which will be distilled to form the core of the NIDP, which is expected to be released in late 2004.
If you have questions about, or input for, the NIDP, email crime.justice@abs.gov.au.
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