NEW SOUTH WALES

TOTAL OFFENDERS

The number of offenders proceeded against by police in New South Wales decreased by 2% (2,503 offenders) from 128,777 offenders in 2016–17 to 126,274 in 2017–18. (Table 6)

The offender rate also decreased for this period, by 68 offenders, from 1,894 to 1,826 offenders per 100,000 persons. (Table 6)


PRINCIPAL OFFENCE

The largest contributor to the decrease in the number of offenders was for the principal offence of Public order offences, down 10% or 1,670 offenders, to 15,782 in 2017–18. (Table 6)

In 2017–18 the four most common principal offences were:

• Acts intended to cause injury (24% or 29,698 offenders)
• Illicit drug offences (14% or 17,832 offenders)
• Public order offences (13% or 15,782 offenders)
• Theft (9% or 11,176 offenders) (Table 6)

SEX

Since the beginning of the time series in 2008–09, males have consistently made up over three-quarters of offenders in New South Wales. In 2017–18, there were 96,944 male and 29,044 female offenders proceeded against by police. (Table 7)


YOUTH OFFENDERS

There were 19,986 youth offenders proceeded against by police in New South Wales in 2017–18, with almost 1 in 6 youth offenders (16%) having a principle offence of Acts intended to cause injury. (Table 20)

Youth offenders made up 16% of all offenders in New South Wales, with a rate of 2,679 offenders per 100,000 persons. (Table 20)


POLICE PROCEEDINGS

Between 2016–17 and 2017–18, the number of police proceedings in New South Wales decreased by 2% (5,799 proceedings). While court proceedings increased in New South Wales by less than 1% (672 proceedings), the 5% decrease in non-court proceedings (6,479 proceedings) resulted in the overall decrease in proceedings. (Table 26)

Nearly a fifth of non-court proceedings (18% or 25,385 proceedings) were for Public order offences. (Table 26)