ABORIGINAL AND TORRES STRAIT ISLANDER OFFENDERS

This publication presents data on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander offenders only for New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia and the Northern Territory. Based on an ABS assessment, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander data for offenders for other jurisdictions are not of sufficient quality for national reporting in 2009-10.

As at 31 December 2009, the proportion of persons aged 10 years and over who were Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander were as follows:

• Northern Territory - 27%;
• Queensland - 3%;
• New South Wales - 2%; and
• South Australia - 2%.

As the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander status of an offender is based on self-identification by the individual who comes into contact with police, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander identification is difficult to ascertain where police proceed by way of a summons or penalty/infringement notice which usually do not provide an opportunity for police to ask individuals to self-identify. As a result, all offenders who were proceeded against by police through the issuing of a penalty/infringement notice have been excluded from the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander status data in Tables 3.7, 3.8 and 3.9 in this publication (see Explanatory Notes, paragraphs 30-32 for details of the impact of this approach on the number of records where Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander status is unknown).

Although offenders who have been proceeded against by police through the issuing of a penalty/infringement notice have been excluded from the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander status data in this publication, there still remain a number of offenders whose Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander status remains unknown in the published data: New South Wales (5%); Queensland (10%); South Australia (11%) and Northern Territory (5%).

Excluding offenders who were proceeded against by a penalty notice, persons who identified as being Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander accounted for 71% of offenders in the Northern Territory, 16% in Queensland, 12% in New South Wales and 14% in South Australia.

South Australia's Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander offender rate of 14,950 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander offenders per 100,000 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander persons aged 10 years and over was the highest of the selected states and territory. The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander offender rate in South Australia was 11 times the non-Indigenous offender rate, the highest ratio for any of the four states and territory. The next highest ratio of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander to non-Indigenous offender rates was in the Northern Territory at just under 8 times higher. In New South Wales it was slightly more than 7 times higher, and in Queensland it was 7 times the rate of non-Indigenous offenders.

The extent to which Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander offender rates are higher than non-Indigenous offender rates varies noticeably across principal offences and by jurisdiction. The offender rates for unlawful entry with intent shows the greatest discrepancy between the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and non-Indigenous populations, with the rates 17 to 22 times higher for the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population across the four jurisdictions, followed by acts intending to cause injury (between 10 and 16 times higher).


Repeat Offenders

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander offenders consistently had higher proportions than non-Indigenous offenders who were proceeded against by police on two or more occasions during 2009-10. Proportions across the four states and territory were similar for both the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and non-Indigenous offender populations. The Northern Territory reported the lowest proportions of repeat offenders: 42% of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and 24% of non-Indigenous offenders.

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