CHANGES TO OFFENCE DATA
The Australian Standard Offence Classification (ASOC) provides a basis for the standardised collection, analysis and dissemination of offence data within crime and justice statistics. Offence data were first published for the Higher Courts for 2001-02; for the Magistrates' Courts for 2003-04; and for the Children's Courts for 2006-07. These data were based on the 1997 edition of ASOC (ASOC97).
From the 2008-09 reference period, offence data from the Criminal Courts collection will be based on the revised edition of ASOC (ASOC08). Courts agencies in all states and territories have migrated to the revised offence classification in 2008-09.
Collection impacts
The revised classification only impacts the Criminal Courts time series in relation to offence information. Defendant numbers are not impacted. The number of offence divisions have remained the same, however changes have been made to offence subdivisions and groups resulting in some subdivisions and groups moving across divisions. Additionally, as part of the migration, some jurisdictions discovered incorrect assignment of local offence codes to ASOC, resulting in further changes to 2008-09 offence data.
Caution should be exercised when making comparisons to offence data prior to 2008-09. For more details about these impacts, refer to the Technical Note.
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