4513.0 - Criminal Courts, Australia, 2017-18 Quality Declaration 
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 28/02/2019   
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HIGHER COURTS

During 2017–18, there were 18,958 defendants finalised in the Higher Courts, an increase of 8% (1,337 defendants) on the previous year. (Table 1)

FIGURE 2: NUMBER OF DEFENDANTS FINALISED, Higher Courts, Method of finalisation, Principal sentence, 2017–18
FIGURE 2: NUMBER OF DEFENDANTS FINALISED(a), Higher Courts, Method of finalisation, Principal sentence, 2017–18

Australian Bureau of Statistics
© Commonwealth of Australia 2019.

Summary characteristics

Of all defendants finalised in the Higher Courts during 2017–18:

  • 87% had their matter(s) adjudicated (16,508), most of whom were proven guilty (15,348)
  • 11% had their matter(s) withdrawn by the prosecution (2,101)
  • Over half were aged between 20 and 34 years (9,813)
  • 86% were male (16,287), the highest proportional representation of males by court level. (Table 1)

Principal offence

During 2017–18, around three in five defendants finalised in the Higher Courts had a principal offence in the following offence categories – all of which increased from 2016–17:
  • Deal or traffic illicit drug offences – 22% (4,245) – an increase of 9% (334)
  • Assault – 19% (3,614) – an increase of 18% (541)
  • Sexual assault and related offences – 18% (3,429) – an increase of 3% (92). This increase was mostly due to non-assaultive sexual offences, up by 13% (84) to 729 defendants. (Table 1)

Principal sentence

Of the 15,348 defendants with charges proven in the Higher Courts during 2017–18, the majority (71%, 10,904) were sentenced to custody in a correctional institution. (Table 7)

Of those sentenced to custody in a correctional institution:
  • A majority (89%) were male
  • The median sentence length1 was two and a half years. (Tables 9 and 57)

The principal offences most commonly sentenced to custody in a correctional institution in the Higher Courts were:
  • Homicide and related offences (88%, 297 defendants)
  • Dangerous/negligent acts (82%, 311 defendants)
  • Robbery/extortion (82%, 1,171 defendants). (Table 10)

The number of defendants sentenced to custody in a correctional institution increased by 10% (1,000 defendants) during 2017–18. (Table 7)

Footnotes

1 Excluding life and indeterminate imprisonment (see Explanatory Note 48).