INDIGENOUS OFFENDERS
For the 2007-08 reference period there were 4,890 Indigenous offenders aged 10 years and over, which represented 61% of the total offender population in the Northern Territory. As at 30 June 2008, 27% of persons aged 10 years and over in the Northern Territory were Indigenous.
Of the total male offenders, 64% were Indigenous, 21% were non-Indigenous and 15% had an unknown Indigenous status. Of the total female offenders, 55% were Indigenous, 13% were non-Indigenous and 32% had an unknown Indigenous status.
Caution should be exercised when comparing Indigenous and non-Indigenous data for certain offences as the Indigenous status of almost one in five offenders (19%) was unknown. Offenders proceeded against by way of penalty and/or infringement notices have higher rates of unknown Indigenous status as these methods of proceedings are less likely to capture Indigenous status information. High levels of unknown Indigenous status are likely for the following offences: public order, illicit drug offences and offences against justice procedures. In the Northern Territory, almost half (47%) of the offenders with a principal offence related to public order offences had an unknown Indigenous status.
Excluding those offence divisions with high levels of unknown Indigenous status (illicit drug offences, public order offences and offences against justice procedures) results in the total proportion of the offender population who were Indigenous increasing from 61% to 74% in the Northern Territory.
As with the overall offender population, the following principal offences were the most prevalent for Indigenous offenders: acts intended to cause injury (34%) and public order offences (24%).
Indigenous persons had a higher rate of offending than non-Indigenous persons. For every 100,000 Indigenous persons aged 10 years and over there were 10,112 Indigenous offenders. For the non-Indigenous population, the rate was 1,149 non-Indigenous offenders per 100,000 non-Indigenous persons aged 10 years and over.
Repeat offenders
Indigenous offenders were, on average, proceeded against by police more often than non-Indigenous offenders during 2007-08 (1.8 times compared to 1.5 times respectively). Of the Indigenous offenders, 58% were proceeded against on one occasion during the 2007-08 reference period, while 5% had been proceeded against on five or more separate occasions.
Offenders, Indigenous status by number of times proceeded against, Northern Territory
Quality Declaration 
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