FINALISED DEFENDANTS

This chapter presents information about defendants finalised in the criminal jurisdictions of the Higher (Supreme and Intermediate), Magistrates' and Children's Courts across Australia for the period 1 July 2013 to 30 June 2014. All Courts data refer to the grouping of the Higher Courts, Magistrates' Courts and Children's Courts.

Defendants include persons charged with criminal offences for each court level as well as organisations charged with criminal offences for the Higher and Magistrates' Courts. A finalised defendant is a person or organisation for whom all charges in a case have been formally completed so that they cease to be an item of work.

The diagram below shows a summary of the number of finalised defendants by court level, method of finalisation and, for defendants proven guilty, whether they received a custodial or non-custodial order as their principal sentence in 2013–14.



(a) Defendants will be counted twice where they are transferred from one of the three court levels and then finalised in another within the same reference period. See Explanatory Notes paragraphs 35-37.
(b) Includes defendants with an unknown method of finalisation.
(c) Adjudicated refers to those defendants finalised by a judgement or decision by the court as to whether or not the defendant is guilty of the charge.
(d) Includes defendants transferred to other court levels.

DEFENDANT NUMBERS

In 2013-14, there were a total of 579,152 defendants finalised in Australia's criminal courts. This represented a 3% increase and a change in direction compared with the previous four years. (Table 3)


At the state and territory level, the largest contributors to the national number of defendants were:

• Queensland with 173,655 defendants (30%);
• New South Wales with 139,874 defendants (24%); and
• Victoria with 104,935 defendants (18%). (Table 2)

The number of defendants increased across most states and territories, with the exception of Western Australia, Tasmania and the Northern Territory.

The Australian Capital Territory had the largest percentage increase (1,254 defendants or 26%). The largest decrease occurred in Tasmania (2,074 defendants or 14%). (Tables 27, 31, 35, 39)


COURT LEVEL

In 2013-14,

• 92% (534,607) of all finalised defendants were finalised in the Magistrates' Courts;
• 5% (29,597) were finalised in the Children's Courts; and
• 3% (14,941) were finalised in the Higher Courts. (Table 1)

While the increase in the number of defendants was reflected in the Magistrates' Courts (4% or 19,702 defendants), the Children's Courts and Higher Courts experienced decreases of 6% (1,958 defendants) and 1% (159 defendants) respectively. The number of defendants in the Children's and Higher Courts has been decreasing over the last five years. (Table 1)


SEX AND AGE

Males continued to account for the majority of defendants, making up 77% of the All Courts defendant population (443,729 defendants). Between 2012-13 and 2013-14, the number of defendants increased for both males and females, by 3% and 5% respectively. (Table 1)

The proportion of organisations remained relatively stable at 1% (5,198 defendants) of all finalised defendants when compared with the previous year. (Table 1)

During 2013-14, over one-third (34% or 194,057 defendants) of all defendants were aged between 20 and 29 years. These defendants accounted for 35% (152,901 defendants) of all male defendants and 32% (40,635 defendants) of all female defendants. The median defendant age remained stable at 30 years in 2013-14. (Tables 1 and 4)


METHOD OF FINALISATION

In 2013-14,

• the majority of defendants were proven guilty (87% or 506,267 defendants);
• 8% (43,424 defendants) had their cases withdrawn by prosecution;
• 3% (14,804 defendants) were transferred to other court levels; and
• 2% (12,855 defendants) were acquitted. (Table 1)

Males were less likely than females to be proven guilty, 87% and 89% respectively. (Table 4)


DURATION FROM INITIATION TO FINALISATION

For all defendants, the median length of time from initiation to finalisation was 6 weeks. This length varied depending on court level:

• in the Higher Courts it was 30 weeks;
• in the Magistrates' Courts it was 6 weeks; and
• in the Children's Courts it was 9 weeks. (Table 2)

The median length of duration also varied depending on the method by which the defendant was finalised. Cases that were acquitted had a longer median duration than those where the defendant was proven guilty:

• in the Higher Courts it was 43 compared to 29 weeks;
• in the Magistrates' Courts it was 18 compared to 5 weeks; and
• in the Children's Courts it was 17 compared to 8 weeks. (Table 7)

PRINCIPAL OFFENCE

During 2013-14, Traffic and vehicle regulatory offences was the principal offence for 37% (212,116) of defendants finalised in All Courts. Of these, the majority (57% or 120,976 defendants) were finalised for Regulatory driving offences, which included offences such as Exceeding the prescribed content of alcohol or other substance limit, Exceeding the legal speed limit and Parking offences. (Table 3)

Following Traffic and vehicle regulatory offences, the most prevalent principal offences were:

• Acts intended to cause injury (12% or 69,016 defendants);
• Illicit drug offences (9% or 50,854 defendants), of which 56% were Possess and/or use illicit drugs;
• Theft and related offences (7% or 43,094 defendants);
• Public order offences (7% or 41,378 defendants); and
• Offences against justice procedures, government security and government operations (7% or 40,958 defendants), of which 47% (19,241) were Offences against justice procedures, and a further 39% (16,003) were Breach of violence and non-violence orders. (Table 3)

For males, the principal offences accounting for the largest proportion of defendants were:

• Traffic and vehicle regulatory offences (36% or 157,587 defendants);
• Acts intended to cause injury (13% or 55,342 defendants); and
• Illicit drug offences (9% or 40,340 defendants). (Table 5)

For females, the principal offences accounting for the largest proportion of defendants were:

• Traffic and vehicle regulatory offences (39% or 49,866 defendants);
• Theft and related offences (12% or 14,697 defendants); and
• Acts intended to cause injury (11% or 13,606 defendants). (Table 5)

For organisations, the principal offences accounting for the largest proportion of defendants were:

• Traffic and vehicle regulatory offences (63% or 3,278 defendants);
• Miscellaneous offences (22% or 1,155 defendants); and
• Offences against justice procedures, government security and government operations (10% or 534 defendants). (Table 5)

Between 2012-13 and 2013-14, the number of defendants finalised with a principal offence of Illicit drug offences increased by 15% or 6,442 defendants. This was driven by Possess and/or use illicit drugs which increased by 3,085 defendants (12%). The number of defendants finalised for Illicit drug offences has been increasing since 2010-11. (Table 3)

Increases were also reported in other offences including:

• Offences against justice procedures, government security and government operations (3,713 defendants or 10%);
• Traffic and vehicle regulatory offences (2,261 defendants or 1%); and
• Acts intended to cause injury (2,038 defendants or 3%). (Table 3)

The increases in Offences against justice procedures, government security and government operations were driven by increases in Breach of violence and non-violence restraining orders (1,660 defendants or 12%). Numbers of finalised defendants with this offence have been increasing since 2009-10. (Table 3)

PRINCIPAL SENTENCE

During 2013-14, 506,267 defendants were proven guilty, of which:

• 89% (447,870 defendants) were given a non-custodial order (primarily monetary orders); and
• 12% (or 58,396 defendants) were given a custodial order. (Table 6)

Of the 58,396 defendants (12%) given a custodial order:

• 60% (35,044 defendants) were sentenced to custody in a correctional institution;
• 35% (20,267 defendants) were sentenced to fully suspended sentences; and
• 5% (3,075 defendants) were sentenced to custody in the community. (Table 6)

The proportion of defendants sentenced to a custodial order has shown a slight increase over the last five years, from 11% in 2009-10 to 12% in 2013-14. (Table 1)