OFFENDERS, AUSTRALIA

INTRODUCTION

This chapter presents national statistics about offenders aged 10 years and over who were proceeded against by police during the period 1 July 2015 to 30 June 2016. The statistics provide a profile of the principal offence for which an offender was proceeded against and the characteristics of the offender (e.g. age and sex). This chapter also provides an overview of state and territory statistics for each data item. Further information for each state and territory is available in the State and Territory Profiles.

The population used in the calculation of offender rates is for persons aged 10 years and over. Where rates are presented by jurisdiction, sex, age or Indigenous Status, the rates are calculated using the population of the relevant group.

Certain offences are excluded from the Recorded Crime – Offenders collection. For further information about the scope and counting methodology of the collection, refer to paragraphs 3–15 of the Explanatory Notes. In this collection, national statistical standards and counting rules have been applied to facilitate comparisons between states and territories. However some legislative and processing differences remain. For differences in legislation, processes or policies between states and territories, refer to paragraphs 50–82 of the Explanatory Notes.


OVERVIEW

There were a total of 422,067 offenders proceeded against by police in Australia during 2015–16. This represented just over a 1% (or 5,016 offenders) increase from 2014–15 and equated to a national offender rate of 2,023 offenders per 100,000 persons. (Table 1)


Victoria was the only state or territory in which the number of offenders decreased between 2014–15 and 2015–16, with a decrease of 3,163 offenders (or 4%). Over the same period the number of offenders increased in:

• New South Wales (by 3,905 offenders or 3%)
• South Australia (by 2,254 offenders or 5%)
• Western Australia (by 1,322 or 3%)
• Northern Territory (by 279 offenders or 2%)
• Queensland (by 245 offenders or 0.2%)
• Australian Capital Territory (by 125 offenders or 5%)
• Tasmania (by 49 offenders or 0.5%)

The highest offender rate was recorded in the Northern Territory, at 5,823 offenders per 100,000 persons.

The largest increase in the offender rate in 2015–16 was recorded in South Australia where there were 3,313 offenders per 100,000 persons, which represented a 4% increase (or 129 more offenders per 100,000 persons) from 2014–15. Three jurisdictions recorded a decrease in offender rates from 2014–15: Victoria, Queensland and Tasmania. Victoria reported the greatest decrease over the year with 6% (or 89 fewer offenders per 100,000 persons). (Table 6)


PRINCIPAL OFFENCE

In 2015–16 the most common principal offences nationally were:

• Illicit drug offences (20% or 83,160 offenders)
• Acts intended to cause injury (18% or 75,947 offenders)
• Theft (18% or 74,911 offenders)
• Public order offences (15% or 64,042 offenders) (Table 1)

These four divisions have consistently had the highest number of offenders since the start of the collection in 2008–09. They also represent the largest change in the number of offenders between 2014–15 and 2015–16:

• Public order offences decreased by 5,940 offenders (9%)
• Theft increased by 5,600 offenders (8%)
• Acts intended to cause injury increased by 3,472 offenders (5%)
• Illicit drug offences increased by 2,032 offenders (3%) (Table 1)

Public order offences

Of all offence divisions, Public order offences had the largest change in the number of offenders between 2014–15 and 2015–16, decreasing by 5,940 (9%) to 64,042 offenders. (Table 1)

The main contributors to the decrease in offenders in this division were:

• Regulated public order offences which made up 30% of offenders in this division in 2015–16 and 41% of the decrease from 2014–15. Some examples of offences that can be categorised to this subdivision are: drink/possess alcohol in an alcohol free zone, smoke in a designated non-smoking area and sale of liquor or tobacco to a minor.
• Offensive conduct which made up 29% of offenders in this division in 2015–16 and 45% of the decrease from 2014–15. Some examples of offences that can be categorised to this subdivision are: vagrancy, public drunkenness and use of offensive language. (Table 4)

Theft

Theft recorded the second largest change in the number of offenders for all divisions between 2014–15 and 2015–16, increasing by 8% to 74,911 offenders. The number of offenders with a principal offence of Theft has increased by 27% since the beginning of the time series in 2008–09. (Table 1)

The principal offence of most offenders in this division (87% in 2015–16) was Theft (except motor vehicles). Some examples of offences that can be categorised to this subdivision are: pick pocketing, theft of intellectual property and shoplifting. (Table 4)

Acts intended to cause injury

The number of offenders with a principal offence of Acts intended to cause injury increased by 5% between 2014–15 and 2015–16 from 72,475 to 75,974 offenders. The majority of offenders were proceeded against for Assault, representing over 93% of offenders in this division in every year of the time series. (Table 4)

The Northern Territory had the highest offender rate for this division in 2015–16, with 1,371 offenders per 100,000 persons. The second highest offender rate was in South Australia, with 473 offenders per 100,000 persons. (Table 6)

Illicit drug offences

The number of offenders with a principal offence of Illicit drug offences increased by 3% between 2014–15 and 2015–16 from 81,128 to 83,160 offenders. This division has increased by 48% since the start of the time series in 2008–09 when there were 56,304 recorded offenders. (Table 1)

The principal offence of the majority of offenders in this division (67% in 2015–16) was Possess and/or use illicit drugs. (Table 4)

South Australia had the highest offender rate for this division in 2015–16, with 1,117 offenders per 100,000 persons. However, caution should be exercised when interpreting data relating to offenders with a principal offence of Illicit drug offences for South Australia as the data may be overstated (see Explanatory Note paragraph 63). The second highest offender rate was in the Northern Territory (658 per 100,000 persons), followed by Queensland (647 per 100,000 persons). (Table 6)


SEX

The number of female offenders increased by 5% nationally to 97,304 in 2015–16, while the number of male offenders remained relatively stable (increasing by 49 offenders to 323,949).

The proportion of female offenders increased from 22% to 23% in 2015–16; however, both the number and rate of male offenders were more than three times that of female offenders. (Table 1)


The proportion of female offenders was highest in the Northern Territory (28%) and lowest in the Australian Capital Territory (19%). The Northern Territory had both the highest female offender rate at 3,433 offenders per 100,000 females and the highest male offender rate at 7,935 offenders per 100,000 males. (Tables 14 and 15)

In 2015–16 the most common principal offence for female offenders nationally was Theft, with 25,176 offenders (26%). Theft was the fourth most common principal offence for male offenders (49,607 or 15%). However, the offender rate for males was twice that of female offenders for Theft (481 and 239 offenders per 100,000 males and females respectively). (Table 1)

The most common principal offence for male offenders nationally in 2015–16 was Illicit drug offences, with 63,605 offenders (20%). Illicit drug offences was the second most common principal offence for female offenders (19,449 or 20%). The offender rate for males was more than three times that of female offenders for Illicit drug offences (616 and 184 offenders per 100,000 males and females respectively). (Table 1)


AGE

In 2015–16, the median age for offenders nationally was 28 years, as it was in 2014–15. The median age across the states and territories ranged from 26 years in the Australian Capital Territory to 31 years in the Northern Territory. (Tables 5, 14 and 15)

The national offender rate was highest for the 15–19 year old age group, at 4,806 offenders per 100,000 persons aged 15–19 years. This age group also had the highest offender rate in:

• New South Wales with 5,456 offenders per 100,000 persons
• Victoria with 3,250 offenders per 100,000 persons
• Western Australia with 3,760 offenders per 100,000 persons
• the Australian Capital Territory with 2,588 offenders per 100,000 persons (Tables 5, 8, 9,12 and 15)

For the other states and territories, the offender rate was highest for the 20–24 year old age group at:

• 5,923 offenders per 100,000 persons in Queensland
• 7,288 offenders per 100,000 persons in South Australia
• 6,640 offenders per 100,000 persons in Tasmania
• 10,313 offenders per 100,000 persons in the Northern Territory (Tables 10, 11, 13 and 14)