INDIGENOUS STATUS, SELECTED STATES AND TERRITORIES


OVERVIEW

This chapter presents data about the Indigenous Status of offenders for New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory. Based on an ABS assessment, Indigenous Status data for other states are not of sufficient quality and/or do not meet ABS standards for self-identification for national reporting in 2015–16.

Indigenous Status is difficult to ascertain when police proceed by way of a penalty notice, as this does not provide an opportunity for police to ask individuals to self-identify. As a result, offenders who were proceeded against by a penalty notice have been excluded from the published Indigenous Status data. Therefore this publication does not include a count of all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander offenders proceeded against by police. This also affects Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander offender rates. For further information, refer to paragraphs 27–31 of the Explanatory Notes.

For the data presented here, there remain a small proportion of offenders whose Indigenous Status was ‘not stated/unknown.’ In 2015–16 the proportion of unknowns was 5% in New South Wales, 2% in Queensland, 21% in South Australia and less than 1% in the Northern Territory. There were no offenders with an unknown Indigenous Status in the Australian Capital Territory. The proportion of offenders with an Indigenous Status of not stated/unknown can vary from year to year. For this reason, caution should be exercised when interpreting movements in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander data. For further information, refer to paragraphs 27–31 of the Explanatory Notes.


SEX AND AGE

For 2015–16:

• South Australia had the highest offender rate for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander males (16,151 offenders per 100,000 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander males).
• Queensland had the highest offender rates for Aboriginal and Torres Islander females (7,181 offenders per 100,000 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander females); non-Indigenous males (2,701 offenders per 100,000 non-Indigenous Islander males); and non-Indigenous females (876 offenders per 100,000 non-Indigenous Islander females). (Table 24)

For 2015–16, the age ranges with the highest Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander offender rate by state/territory were:

• New South Wales 30–34 years (9,595 offenders per 100,000 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander persons aged 30–34 years).
• Queensland 20–24 years (15,739 offenders per 100,000 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander persons aged 20–24 years).
• South Australia 35–39 years (17,883 offenders per 100,000 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander persons aged 35–39 years).
• The Northern Territory 25–29 years (13,385 offenders per 100,000 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander persons aged 25–29 years).
• The Australian Capital Territory 30–34 years (7,014 offenders per 100,000 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander persons aged 30–34 years). (Table 24)

In 2015–16, median age was younger for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander offenders, as compared to non-Indigenous offenders, in all of the selected states and territories. The largest difference in median ages was for the Northern Territory: 28 years for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander offenders and 32 years for non-Indigenous offenders. (Table 24)


AGE STANDARDISED RATES

The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population has a younger age distribution than the non-Indigenous population. Since offender rates are correlated with age, it is more appropriate to use age standardised rates when comparing populations. These rates adjust the crude rates to factor in the effect of the age structure of the population (see Explanatory Notes paragraphs 23–26).

The ratio of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander to non-Indigenous age standardised offender rates can then be used to compare the two populations. The Northern Territory had the highest ratio of age standardised rates, with the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander offender rate being almost nine times the non-Indigenous offender rate.


REPEAT OFFENDERS

In 2015–16, New South Wales had the highest mean number of times proceeded against by police for both Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander offenders (2.4 times) and non-Indigenous offenders (1.8 times).


Queensland had the highest proportion of offenders who were proceeded against on more than one occasion throughout the year, both for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander offenders (50%), and non-Indigenous offenders (33%). (Table 25)


PRINCIPAL OFFENCE

In 2015–16, Acts intended to cause injury was the most common principal offence for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander offenders in all of the selected states and territories, and for non-Indigenous offenders in all except Queensland.

The proportion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander offenders in this offence division ranged from 18% in Queensland (3,096 offenders) to 47% in New South Wales (5,300 offenders).

Similarly, for non-Indigenous offenders the lowest and highest proportions for Acts intended to cause injury were in Queensland (10% or 6,929 offenders) and New South Wales (34% or 22,926 offenders). The principal offence division with the highest proportion of non-Indigenous offenders in Queensland was illicit drug offences (33% or 23,731 offenders). (Table 22)