COURT ACTIONS

Court actions largely comprise the laying of charges against an alleged offender that must be answered in court. Offenders may be taken into custody, granted bail or issued with a summons for these charges pending an appearance in court. It should be noted that not all court proceedings initiated by police will proceed to a criminal court. The proceeding may be withdrawn or changed from a court to a non-court action at a later stage of the investigation.

The number of court action proceedings increased between 2011-12 and 2012-13 in:

• Victoria (by 7,860 court actions, or 14%);
• Queensland (by 4,952 court actions, or 5%);
• New South Wales (by 3,780 court actions, or 5%);
• Northern Territory (by 1,382 court actions, or 17%); and
• South Australia (by 346 court actions, or 1%).

The number of court action proceedings decreased in:

• Tasmania (by 2,213 court actions, or 19%); and
• Australian Capital Territory (by 176 court actions, or 8%). (Tables 21 – 27)

The majority of proceedings in 2012-13 were court actions. The proportion of police proceedings that were court actions differed across the selected states and territories, from 49% in New South Wales to 81% in Queensland.

The proportion of police proceedings that were court actions increased between 2011-12 and 2012-13 for each of the selected states and territories except New South Wales, the Northern Territory and South Australia. The largest increase occurred in Queensland, where the proportion of court actions increased from 79% to 81%. The largest decrease occurred in South Australia, where the proportion of court actions decreased from 66% in 2011-12 to 59% in 2012-13.


Principal offence

Acts intended to cause injury was the most prevalent principal offence for court actions for all selected states and territories, except Queensland. In order of prevalence, Acts intended to cause injury accounted for:

• 40% (or 3,856 proceedings) in the Northern Territory;
• 35% (or 29,776 proceedings) in New South Wales;
• 28% (or 19,933 proceedings) in Victoria;
• 26% (or 559 proceedings) in the Australian Capital Territory;
• 20% (or 6,851 proceedings) in South Australia; and
• 20% (or 1,870 proceedings) in Tasmania.

In Queensland, the most prevalent principal offence for court actions was Illicit drug offences, which accounted for 18% (or 20,370) of all court actions. (Tables 21 – 27)