MAGISTRATES’ COURTS
There were 545,251 defendants finalised in the Magistrates’ Courts during 2017–18, a decrease of 2% on the previous year.
Defendants finalised in the Magistrates’ Courts accounted for 92% of all defendants finalised nationally. (Table 1)
FIGURE 3: NUMBER OF DEFENDANTS FINALISED, Magistrates’ Courts, Method of finalisation, Principal sentence, 2017–18
Australian Bureau of Statistics
© Commonwealth of Australia 2019.
Summary characteristics
Of all defendants finalised in the Magistrates’ Courts during 2017–18:
- 88% had their matter(s) adjudicated (479,718), most of whom were proven guilty (469,732)
- Three-quarters were male (408,972)
- The median age was 33 years. (Table 1)
Principal offence
During 2017–18, the four most common principal offences for defendants finalised in the Magistrates’ Courts were:
- Traffic and vehicle regulatory offences – 38% (205,390), most commonly Regulatory driving offences (128,116) and Driver licence offences (70,262)
- Acts intended to cause injury – 13% (68,274), predominantly Assault (62,536)
- Illicit drug offences – 10% (56,638), most commonly possess or use offences (35,790)
- Offences against justice – 9% (48,170), with nearly half of these defendants charged with breaching a violence or non-violence order (23,842). (Table 1)
Principal Sentence
Of the 469,732 defendants who were proven guilty in the Magistrates’ Courts during 2017–18:
- 63% were sentenced to a monetary order (298,182), mostly fines, for which the median fine amount (for all offence types) was $500
- 7% (33,161) were sentenced to custody in a correctional institution
- 6% (29,878) were sentenced to a community supervision or work order. (Tables 7 and 60)
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