Federal Defendants, Australia methodology

Defendants with more than one sentence type (for either a single offence or multiple offences) are assigned a principal federal sentence, which is intended to reflect the most serious sentence based on the hierarchy of the Sentence Type Classification (Appendix 3).

In most cases, the principal federal sentence will be associated with the principal federal offence (that is, the most serious sentence handed down for the most serious offence). However, because the principal federal sentence is assigned independently of offence information, it is possible for this not to be the case (i.e. where the most serious offence proven guilty has not incurred the most serious/largest sentence). Analysis indicates that the overall number of instances where the principal federal offence and principal federal sentence do not align is small. Users should note this in regards to data tables presenting principal federal offence and principal federal sentence.

It should also be noted that there are some differences in the availability and application of sentence types across states and territories, and over time, which should be taken into consideration when interpreting sentence data.

This ‘duration’ information presented is a measure of court timeliness, representing the time taken (in days) between the date a defendant’s case(s) was initiated in court and the date they were finalised (i.e. ceased to be an item of work for the court) as follows:

Duration = Date of finalisation – Date of initiation + 1

Note that duration data for New South Wales and the Northern Territory are derived on a different basis (see ‘State and territory specific information’ section).

National standards and classifications are used in this collection to produce nationally comparable data (see ‘Classifications’ section). However, various factors can impact data quality and comparability, including:

• Challenges with meeting national standards due to courts data systems being designed for the purpose of administration of court business (as opposed to national statistical purposes)
• Modification over time to data systems and methodology used to extract/compile data
• Refinements to data quality procedures
• Legislative or operational differences across states and territories (e.g. differences in the types of sentencing options available to the courts).
   

For more specific state and territory information relating to data comparability, refer to ‘State and territory specific information’ section.

The Federal Defendants collection presents a subset of all defendants finalised in Australia's criminal courts, as published in Criminal Courts, Australia (cat. no. 4513.0). However, as a federal defendant may also be finalised for state or territory offences (in the same reference period), the difference between all finalised defendants and finalised federal defendants does not equal the count of defendants finalised for state/territory offences.

The data in this publication may not be comparable to data published in other national and state/territory publications due to differing scope and counting rules.

The following information highlights events or processes unique to a state/territory that may have impacted on the data for the Federal Defendants collection. For other state and territory specific issues that have impacted on the Criminal Courts collection more generally, refer to ‘State and territory specific information’ in the Explanatory Notes of Criminal Courts, Australia (cat. no. 4513.0).

Duration data for New South Wales Magistrates' and Children's Courts are based on the date of first appearance rather than the date of registration, because the date of registration is not captured in the Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research's (BOCSAR) system (the source of courts data provided to the ABS). This may impact on duration data and therefore caution should be used when making comparisons across states and territories.

New South Wales legislation does not contain discrete offences of stalking, intimidation and harassment and therefore all these offences have been coded to ANZSOC Division 02 Acts intended to cause injury. As such, this division may be overstated and ANZSOC Division 05 Abduction/harassment may be understated. Caution should be used when making comparisons with other states and territories.

Sentence reforms were introduced in New South Wales on 24 September 2018. Intensive Correction Orders were reformed, allowing for a range of conditions to be imposed, including home detention and community service work. Suspended sentences were repealed, as were home detention and community service orders as individual sentences. Good behaviour bonds and non-conviction bonds were also repealed, replaced by community correction orders and conditional release orders. The new sentencing options cover a range of conditions which can be imposed in various combinations and systems and procedures have been updated to allow for the capture of these conditions. These changes have contributed to noticeable increases in custody in the community and community supervision/work orders and noticeable decreases in fully suspended sentences, fines and other non-custodial orders between 2017–18 and 2018–19. Users are therefore advised not to make direct comparisons with previous years.

Victoria has a high proportion of defendants with a principal federal offence in ANZSOC Division 14 Traffic and vehicle regulatory offences compared with most other states and territories. This is due to parking offences occurring at airports, charged under Airports (Control of On-Airport Activities) Regulations 1997.

In February 2018, the Youth Justice (Transitional) Regulation commenced, with the age range for the youth justice system now including 17 year olds. This regulation resulted in the transfer of 17 year olds from:

• Court proceedings in the Magistrates' Courts to the youth justice system
• Community based orders to Youth Justice supervision
• Adult custody to youth detention, where this is in best interest/safety of the child.
   

These changes have resulted in:

• An increase in the number of defendants finalised during 2017–18 in the Magistrates courts, via a transfer to the Children’s Courts
• An increase in the number of defendants finalised in the Children's Courts during 2018–19
• A subsequent decrease in the number of defendants aged 17 years being finalised in the Magistrates’ Courts during 2018–19.
   

A system change in 2017–18 has meant that data on summary offences that are transferred from the Magistrates’ Courts to the Higher Courts have been included in Queensland data for the first time. These data relate to situations where a defendant is charged with an indictable offence and a summary offence in relation to the same incident. Upon the election of the defendant, and with the consent of the court, when the defendant is to be sentenced for the indictable offence in the higher court, the summary offences can, at that point, be transferred to the Higher Court to be sentenced at the same time. The inclusion of this data has resulted in an increase in transfers from Magistrates’ Courts to Higher Courts, and total transfers. Therefore, comparisons between 2017–18 transfers and previous years for Queensland and Australia should be made with caution.

In 2018–19, South Australian data were extracted from the new SAPOL Shield system which has different data entry and extraction procedures from the previous recording system. Caution should therefore be used when making historical comparisons.

Detailed data on defendants proven guilty (guilty finding by the court, guilty plea by defendant and guilty ex-parte) are not published for Western Australia. This is due to changes in the quality of these data since the migration of Western Australia’s criminal courts data to the Integrated Courts Management System (ICMS) in November 2013.

Improvements were made to the coding of method of finalisation data in Tasmania's Magistrates' Courts data during 2018–19, impacting on the number of defendants finalised with charges not proven and/or matters withdrawn by the prosecution. Users are advised to exercise caution when making comparisons across years.

The Sentencing Amendment (Phasing out of suspended sentences) Act 2017 came into effect in December, 2017. This introduced new alternatives to suspended sentences such as Home Detention and Community Corrections Orders, impacting on the number of defendants sentenced to a fully suspended sentence and/or community supervision/work order. Users are advised to exercise caution when making comparisons with data prior to 2018–19.

The 2010–11 Federal Defendants collection included data for Tasmanian Magistrates' and Children's Courts only. From 2011–12, data for all court levels are included for Tasmania.

Date of initiation in Magistrates’ and Children’s courts within the Northern Territory is based on the earliest of: the date the case was filed; the date the case was created; or the date of first appearance.

The Australian Capital Territory has a high proportion of defendants with a principal federal offence of Traffic and vehicle regulatory offences compared with most other states and territories. This is due to parking offences charged under the Commonwealth Australian National University Parking and Traffic Statute 2007 and the Australian National University Act 1991.

In 2018, ACT Courts records were migrated to the Integrated Court Management System which has different data entry and extraction procedures from the previous recording system. This includes a change to the way defendants are consolidated in the system (such as the removal of duplicate defendant records), which has resulted in a significant reduction in the overall finalised defendant counts for 2018–19. Therefore, comparison of 2018–19 data with previous years should be treated with caution.

Method of finalisation refers to the way in which a defendant’s case(s) is finalised by the courts and the case(s) ceases to be an item of work for that particular court level (within the reference period).

This Appendix presents the different categories/types of method of finalisation in scope of the Federal Defendants, Australia publication, including the definitions for each of these.

For additional information about counting rules and state/territory specific court practices that may impact on method of finalisation data in this publication, refer to the Explanatory Notes.

1 Specialist Courts: Courts available in some states and territories that provide support and/or offer access to programs and support services for defendants with particular characteristics. For example, Drug courts and Indigenous courts. The aim of specialist courts is to reduce rates of persons subsequently returning to the justice system. Specialist courts are excluded from Federal Defendants data.

This Appendix includes sentence codes, categories and definitions for each sentence type included in the Federal Defendants, Australia collection. For additional information about sentencing practices adopted by each state and territory and how these may impact on the comparability of the data presented in this collection please refer to the Explanatory Notes.

1. Rising of the Court: A defendant who is proven guilty of a criminal charge(s) is sentenced to remain in custody until the final adjournment of the court for the term, usually only momentarily.

Acts intended to threaten or harass, or acts that unlawfully deprive another person of their freedom of movement, that are against that person’s will or against the will of any parent, guardian or other person having lawful custody, or care of that person. These offences are classified to ANZSOC Division 05 which includes the following sub-divisions:

• Abduction and kidnapping (051)
• Deprivation of liberty/false imprisonment (052)
• Harassment and threatening behaviour (053).
   

Acts which are intended to cause non-fatal injury or harm to another person, where there is no sexual or acquisitive element; excludes attempted murder, or acts resulting in death. These offences are classified to ANZSOC Division 02 which includes the following sub-divisions:

• Assault (021)
• Other acts intended to cause injury (029).
   

A defendant's age is calculated at the date their matter(s) was finalised in the criminal court.

All Courts data refer to the grouping of Higher Courts, Magistrates' Courts and Children's Courts.

The ANZSOC is a hierarchical classification developed by the ABS for use in the collection and publication of crime and justice statistics. It provides a classificatory framework for the comparison of statistics on offences across Australia and New Zealand. Within the classificatory structure of ANZSOC, divisions represent the broadest categories of offences. The sub-division and group levels provide increasingly detailed dissections of the broad categories. The 2011 version of ANZSOC is used to classify offence data within this publication. For details of the classification refer to Appendix 1, or Australian and New Zealand Standard Offence Classification (ANZSOC), 2011 (cat. no. 1234.0).

A federal offence group – includes a range of offences impacting on the operation of aviation and airports throughout Australia.

One or more criminal charges, relating to one or more individuals (or organisations), which are heard together by the court as one unit of work.

An allegation that has been laid before a court by the police, Director of Public Prosecutions or other prosecuting agency that an individual (or organisation) has committed a criminal offence.

The production, possession, distribution, or display of pornographic or abusive material of a child under the age of consent in written, photographic, film, video, digital or other format. This is ANZSOC Group 0322.

A federal offence group – includes child pornography offences and using a carriage service to groom a child to engage in sexual activity.

A lower court level which is presided over by a judge/magistrate and has the jurisdiction to hear cases and sentence criminal charges against persons (generally) aged less than 18 years at the time the offence occurred. May also determine some minor indictable offences and conduct committal proceedings in relation to young people who have been charged with major indictable offences.

Breaches of regulations designed to protect an industrial, commercial or financial activity, comprising acts that are harmful to persons, acquisitive, or deceptive and are not directed at health and safety and pollution control (i.e. they cannot be appropriately placed elsewhere). These offences are classified to ANZSOC Sub-division 163.

A federal offence group – includes offences such as bribing, threatening, harming or impersonating a Commonwealth official. Offences against foreign officials are also included.

A federal offence group – includes offences that relate to theft, burglary or damage occurring on, or in relation to, Commonwealth property.

A federal offence group – includes offences of a sexual nature such as sex trafficking, debt bondage and sexual slavery. Sexual offences against a minor are also counted in this category.

A federal offence group – includes offences relating to the use of computers, postal service and other telecommunications devices as channels in the carriage of crime, such as threatening others via the Internet.

Represents the level (of court) in which a defendant's case(s) was finalised (see Finalised defendant). Court levels can be distinguished from one another based on the extent of their legal powers (see Jurisdiction). For the purposes of this publication Court level has been grouped into the following three categories:

• Higher Court (Intermediate and Supreme Court)
• Magistrates' Court (Court of Summary Jurisdiction)
• Children's Court.
   

Lower courts which are presided over by a magistrate and have the jurisdiction to hear and sentence matters relating to summary (i.e. less serious) offences, or conduct preliminary (committal) hearings for indictable offences. In some circumstances, this court level may also deal with less serious indictable offences known as 'minor indictable' or 'triable either way' offences. Includes Magistrates' Courts, Local Courts or Courts of Petty Sessions (depending on the state/territory), and Children’s Courts.

Dangerous or negligent acts (though not intended to cause harm) which actually, or potentially, result in injury to oneself or another person. These offences are classified to ANZSOC Division 04, which includes the following sub-divisions:

• Dangerous or negligent operation of a vehicle (041)
• Other dangerous or negligent acts endangering persons (049).
   

The latest date on which all charges laid against a defendant within the one case are regarded as formally completed, and the defendant ceases to be an active unit of work for that particular court level.

The date in which a defendant’s case is initiated into the court, and can be either the date of committal or the date of registration (depending on the process of entry into that level of court). For defendants committed from a Magistrates' Court to a Higher Court, the date of committal is used for the date of initiation. For defendants who have any other method of initiation, including direct presentment to a Higher Court by ex-officio, the date of registration for that court level is used as the date of initiation. Where there are multiple dates of initiation for a defendant (i.e. for different charges) and these charges were all finalised at the same time, the earliest date of initiation is used (for the purposes of deriving duration (i.e. length) of a defendant’s case for this publication).

A federal offence group – includes offences which breach defence force legislation and involve defence force personnel or property.

A person or organisation against whom one or more criminal charges have been laid, which are heard together as one unit of work by a court level.

See: Intermediate Court

A federal offence group – includes offences relating to the import/export, manufacturing, supply, possession and/or use of drugs or other illicit substances as well as the misrepresentation of licit drug products.

The time elapsed between the earliest date of initiation and the latest date of finalisation for a defendant whose case(s) has ceased to be an item of work for the particular court level.

A federal offence group – includes offences related to environmental protection, wildlife conservation and the harming of protected species. Environmental offences related to the sea are counted under the Maritime and Illegal fishing category.

A person or organisation who has been finalised in the state and territory Criminal courts for at least one offence against Commonwealth legislation.

A broad categorisation of federal offences, developed in collaboration with the Australian Department of Home Affairs. The federal offence group categories do not relate to ANZSOC; rather, they are amalgamations of Commonwealth Acts/Sections. See Appendix 4 for a concordance between federal offence group categories and the associated Commonwealth Acts/Sections.

A person or organisation for whom all charges relating to the one case have been formally completed so that the defendant ceases to be an item of work to be dealt with by the court. Most commonly finalisation occurs when a defendant is found guilty (either by entering a guilty plea or being found guilty by the court) and sentenced, acquitted, or transferred to another court level, or when the case is withdrawn by the prosecution.

A federal offence group – includes offences relating to the improper handling of finance, such as bankruptcy, import/export of counterfeit money and the improper use of public money.

A federal offence group – includes offences relating to false or misleading statements for personal gain such as insurance claims, identification and misrepresentation of accreditation. Trademark and copyright infringements are also counted in this category.

Offences involving a dishonest act or omission carried out with the purpose of deceiving to obtain benefit. These offences are classified to ANZSOC Division 09 which includes the following sub-divisions:

• Obtain benefit by deception (091)
• Forgery and counterfeiting (092)
• Deceptive business/government practices (093)
• Other fraud and deception offences (099).
   

Actions that harass or are intended to harass, threaten or invade the privacy of an individual, not amounting to an assault, sexual assault, stalking, blackmail or extortion. The action can be face-to-face, written, or made through a carriage service (e.g. phone, computer, etc.). These offences are classified to ANZSOC Sub-division 053 which includes the following groups:

• Harassment and private nuisance (0531)
• Threatening behaviour (0532).
   

The criminal jurisdiction of an Intermediate or Supreme Court.

Unlawfully kill, attempt to unlawfully kill, or conspiracy to kill another person. These offences are classified to ANZSOC Division 01 which includes the following sub-divisions:

• Murder (011)
• Attempted murder (012)
• Manslaughter and driving causing death (013).
   

A federal offence group – includes offences relating to unlawful fishing in Australian waters, such as fishing without a licence and fishing by foreign vessels.

A federal offence group – includes offences related to the illegal use or removal of firearms, other weapons and explosives.

The possession, sale, dealing or trafficking, importing or exporting, manufacturing or cultivating of drugs or other substances prohibited under legislation. These offences are classified to ANZSOC Division 10 which includes the following sub-divisions:

• Import or export illicit drugs (101)
• Deal or traffic in illicit drugs (102)
• Manufacture or cultivate illicit drugs (103)
• Possess and/or use illicit drugs (104)
• Other illicit drug offences (109).
   

Offences involving illegal entry, people smuggling across international borders, or the failure to comply with immigration visa conditions, including undertaking employment when not permitted, or overstaying exit date. These offences are classified to ANZSOC Group 1543.

Actions resulting or intended to result in either the importation of illicit drugs or controlled substances into Australia, or the exportation of illicit drugs or controlled substances from Australia. These offences are classified to ANZSOC Sub-division 101 which includes the following groups:

• Import illicit drugs (1011)
• Export illicit drugs (1012).
   

A federal offence group – includes breaches against import and export regulations set out by customs and quarantine control legislation.

A serious criminal offence as defined by specific Commonwealth, state and territory legislation. Charges relating to indictable offences generally require a trial and/or sentence hearing in a Higher Court. Under some circumstances, a defendant can elect to have these charges dealt with in a Court of Summary Jurisdiction.

Higher Courts which are presided over by a judge and have legal powers that fall between those of the Court of Summary Jurisdiction and a Higher Court, to trial and sentence matters relating to most indictable (i.e. serious) offences; includes District Courts and County Courts (depending on the state/territory). Tasmania, the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory do not have an Intermediate Court and all indictable offences are heard in the Supreme Court.

A federal offence group – includes offences initiated overseas or related to foreign persons such as harming Australians overseas, war crimes, recruitment to serve in armed forces in foreign states and the transfer of prisoners across borders.

The legal power or authority which may be exercised by a particular court level within which, judgements or orders of the court can be enforced or executed. Each court level has its own defined jurisdictional limits and these vary across states and territories.

A federal offence group – includes offences related to breach of justice orders, escaping from custody or immigration detention, subverting the course of justice and failure to vote.

See: Court of Summary Jurisdiction.

A lower court presided over by a magistrate which has the jurisdiction to hear and sentence summary (i.e. less serious) offences and to conduct preliminary (committal) hearings for indictable offences. In some circumstances, this court level may also deal with less serious indictable offences known as 'minor indictable' or 'triable either way' offences. Includes the Local Court and Court of Petty Sessions (depending on the state/territory). See: Court of Summary Jurisdiction for further information.

A federal offence group – includes offences occurring in or affecting Australia's maritime environment, excluding illegal fishing.

The sum of the value of each observation in a dataset divided by the number of observations. This is also known as the arithmetic average.

The middle value in a distribution when values are arranged in ascending or descending order.

Refers to the way in which a criminal charge(s) for a defendant has been completed (finalised) by the court, so that it ceases to be an item of work for that particular court level. The method of finalisation classification (Appendix 2) presents a full list of the categories/methods of finalisation in scope of this publication, including definitions for each of these.

A federal offence group – includes breaches of Australian citizenship and migration legislation such as passport fraud, falsely holding a visa and breaking visa conditions.

See: Triable either way offence.

Offences involving the breach of statutory rules or regulations, governing activities that are prima facie legal where such offences are not explicitly dealt with under any other ANZSOC division. These offences are classified to ANZSOC Division 16 which includes the following sub-divisions:

• Defamation, libel and privacy offences (161)
• Public health and safety offences (162)
• Commercial/industry/financial regulation (163)
• Other miscellaneous offences (169).
   

The National Offence Index (NOI) provides an ordinal ranking of the offence categories in the Australian and New Zealand Standard Offence Classification (ANZSOC), 2011 (cat. no. 1234.0) according to perceived seriousness, in order to determine a defendant’s principal offence. The National Offence Index (cat no. 1234.0.55.001) is available from the ABS website.

Offences of a sexual nature, or intent thereof, against another person that do not involve physical contact with the person and where the person does not give consent, gives consent as a result of intimidation or deception, or consent is prescribed (i.e. the person is legally deemed incapable of giving consent because of youth, temporary or permanent (mental) incapacity or there is a familial relationship). These offences are classified to ANZSOC Sub-division 032 which includes the following groups:

• Non-assaultive sexual offences against a child (0321)
• Child pornography offences (0322)
• Sexual servitude offences (0323)
• Non-assaultive sexual offences, n.e.c. (0329).
   

The use of deception or impersonation with the intent of dishonestly obtaining property, goods, services, or other benefit, or to avoid dis-benefit. These offences are classified to ANZSOC Sub-division 091.

An act with the intent of resisting or hindering government officers or government operations, other than police, justice or government security officers. These offences are classified to ANZSOC Sub-division 154 which includes the following groups:

• Resist or hinder a government official (excluding police, justice officials, or government security officers) (1541)
• Bribery involving government officials (1542)
• Immigration offences (1543)
• Offences against government operations, n.e.c. (1549).
   

Offences against government operations, other than those of a security nature, with the intent of impeding the normal functioning capacity of that operation. Included are offences against government statutory bodies or agencies that operate under specific government regulation. This is ANZSOC Group 1549.

An act or omission that is deemed to be prejudicial to the effective carrying out of justice procedures or any government operations. This includes general government operations as well as those specifically concerned with maintaining government security. These offences are classified to ANZSOC Division 15 which includes the following sub-divisions:

• Breach of custodial order offences (151)
• Breach of community-based orders (152)
• Breach of violence and non-violence restraining orders (153)
• Offences against government operations (154)
• Offences against government security (155)
• Offences against justice procedures (156).
   

The power of a court to hear criminal charges against a defendant for the first time (as opposed to on appeal) and determine whether or not a defendant is proven guilty. See: Jurisdiction

A federal offence group – includes offences that have not been classified elsewhere.

A federal offence group – includes offences related to the organised movement of people into Australia illegally.

A formal statement made by, or on behalf of, the defendant in response to a criminal charge that has been laid in a court. The nature of this response indicates whether or not the defendant intends to contest that charge.

The offence category, based on ANZSOC, that describes the most serious offence type associated with a finalised federal defendant. The most serious offence is determined by how the offences were finalised and/or the rankings in the National Offence Index (cat. no. 1234.0.55.001). For more information see Explanatory Notes.

The main (or most serious) sentence dealt to a defendant who has been proven guilty, based on the hierarchy of the Sentence Type Classification. This classification (Appendix 3) presents a full list of categories/types of sentences in scope of this publication, including definitions for each of these.

A federal offence group – includes the handling of money or property gained through criminal activity.

Offences involving prohibited or regulated weapons and explosives. These offences are classified to ANZSOC Division 11 which includes the following sub-divisions:

• Prohibited weapons/explosives offences (111)
• Regulated weapons/explosives offences (112).
   

The wilful and/or unlawful destruction, damage, defacement or pollution of public, private, or community property – where 'destruction' means altering the property in any way so as to render it imperfect or inoperative. These offences are classified to ANZSOC Division 12 which includes the following sub-divisions:

• Property damage (121)
• Environmental pollution (122).
   

An outcome of criminal proceedings in which a defendant has pled guilty, were found guilty by the court or were found guilty ex-parte. Proven guilty corresponds to Charge proven (110) in the method of finalisation classification (Appendix 2).

Offences relating to personal conduct that involves (or may lead to) a breach of public order or decency, is indicative of criminal intent, or is otherwise regulated or prohibited on moral or ethical grounds. In most cases (but not all) these offences do not involve a specific victim or victims. These offences are classified to ANZSOC Division 13 which includes the following sub-divisions:

• Disorderly conduct (131)
• Regulated public order offences (132)
• Offensive conduct (133).
   

Acts intended to unlawfully gain money, property or other items of value from, or cause detriment to another person by using the threat of force or any other coercive measure. These offences are classified to ANZSOC Division 06 which includes the following sub-divisions:

• Robbery (061)
• Blackmail and extortion (062).
   

A federal offence group – includes offences related to the security of Commonwealth property such as espionage and treason.

A penalty or penalties imposed by a court upon a defendant who is proven guilty of a criminal offence. This may be a custodial sentence such as imprisonment or a non-custodial sentence such as a fine. A sentence can also be called an order. See: Principal sentence.

Acts (or intent of acts) of a sexual nature against another person, where these are non-consensual or where consent is proscribed. These offences are classified to ANZSOC Division 03 which includes the following sub-divisions:

• Sexual assault (031)
• Non-assaultive sexual offences (032).
   

A federal offence group – includes making false claim or statement in relation to social security benefits, pensions and allowances.

A criminal offence which is regarded as less serious relative to an indictable offence, as defined by specific Commonwealth, state or territory legislation. Charges relating to summary offences are generally dealt with by a Court of Summary Jurisdiction. However, in some states and territories, a defendant with summary charges may be transferred to a Higher Court for sentencing (e.g. if the magistrate wants to impose a penalty which exceeds his /her jurisdictional powers or if they have other indictable offences in the same case that are to be transferred (see: Indictable offence).

A Higher Court presided over by a judge, which deals with the most serious criminal charges and has jurisdiction to trial and sentence matters relating to all indictable offences. In states and territories that have an Intermediate Court, the Supreme Court is usually reserved to deal with the most serious indictable offences, such as murder.

A federal offence group – includes tax fraud, failure to lodge a tax return or to pay tax, as well as offences related to non-registered tax agents.

The unlawful taking of (or obtaining) money or goods not involving the use of force, threat of force or violence, coercion, or deception, with the intent to permanently or temporarily deprive the owner (or possessor) of the use of the money or goods. Also includes the receiving or handling of money or goods obtained unlawfully. These offences are classified to ANZSOC Division 08 which includes the following sub-divisions:

• Motor vehicle theft and related offences (081)
• Theft (except motor vehicles) (082)
• Receive or handle proceeds of crime (083)
• Illegal use of property (except motor vehicles) (084).
   

A federal offence group – includes terrorist acts, preparing or training for terrorist acts, or possessing things connected with terrorist acts.

Offences relating to vehicles and most forms of traffic offences, including offences pertaining to the licensing, registration, roadworthiness or use of vehicles, bicycle offences and pedestrian offences. These offences are classified to ANZSOC Division 14 which includes the following sub-divisions:

• Driver licence offences (141)
• Vehicle registration and roadworthiness offences (142)
• Regulatory driving offences (143)
• Pedestrian offences (144).
   

A federal offence group – includes interstate road offences and parking offences prosecuted under Commonwealth legislation.

An indictable offence which a defendant can elect to have heard either in a Court of Summary Jurisdiction before a magistrate or in a Higher Court before a judge and jury.

The examination of (and decision on) a matter of law or fact by a court where a defendant enters a not guilty plea or other defended plea. Trials are usually conducted before a judge and jury, whereby the judge rules on questions of law and the jury is responsible for determining whether or not the defendant is guilty (although a some states and territories also allow for a trial before a judge only). Defendants can be committed to trial via a committal proceeding, or an ex-officio indictment.

The unlawful entry (forced or unforced) of a structure with the intent to commit an offence. A structure is defined as a building that is contained by walls and can be secured in some form. This includes, but is not limited to, a dwelling (e.g. house, flat, caravan), office, bank, shop, factory, school and church. These offences are classified to ANZSOC Division 07.

A federal defendant is someone charged with an offence against Commonwealth law. Commonwealth charges can be prosecuted by state and territory police agencies, the Australian Federal Police, the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions, state Directors of Public Prosecutions, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission, the Australian Tax Office and other (generally Commonwealth) authorities. Information on federal defendants brought before the courts is recorded by the court administration authorities in each state and territory for operational and case management purpose. Federal Defendants statistics are based on data extracted from these administrative records. Data are supplied to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) by the courts administering agency for all states and territories except for Queensland (where they are supplied via the Office of the Government Statistician), and New South Wales (where they are supplied via the Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research).

Federal Defendants statistics are produced by the National Criminal Courts Statistics Unit (NCCSU) of the ABS. The NCCSU functions under an intergovernmental agreement between the ABS, the Australian Government Attorney General's Department and state and territory departments responsible for justice issues. One of the major functions of the NCCSU is to compile, analyse, publish and disseminate uniform national criminal courts statistics, subject to the provisions of the Census and Statistics Act 1905.

For information on the institutional environment of the ABS, including the legislative obligations of the ABS, financing and governance arrangements, and mechanisms for scrutiny of ABS operations, please see ABS Institutional Environment in the About Us section of the ABS website.

The Federal Defendants collection provides statistics about defendants dealt with by the criminal jurisdictions of the Higher, Magistrates' and Children's Courts of Australia. Defendants include persons as well as organisations (for the Higher and Magistrates' Courts only) charged with at least one offence against Commonwealth legislation. Comparable statistics are provided for each of the states and territories and for Australia on the offences, case outcomes and sentence types associated with these defendants. If a person or organisation is a defendant in a number of criminal cases finalised within the courts during the reference period, this person or organisation will be counted more than once within that reference period.

Data from the Federal Defendants collection are released annually in Federal Defendants, Australia (cat. no. 4515.0) and accompanying data cubes within 12 months of the reference period. The reference period is the financial year (1 July to 30 June). Each release includes data for the current reference year, along with time series for some data items.

Federal Defendants data are extracted from each state and territory's court administration system. The data are not subject to sampling error. Non-sampling errors can arise from inaccuracies in recording by courts agencies, when the data are extracted, processed and disseminated. The ABS has limited influence over any errors associated with data recorded by external sources. The ABS provides a collection manual which outlines the scope, coverage, counting rules and data item definitions for the collection to minimise data extraction errors. Efficient processing and editing procedures are in place within the ABS to minimise processing and reporting errors.

Revisions to published data are irregular. Revisions to historical data are made when new information about the comparability of data over time is identified. This may occur when errors or omissions are identified in the administrative data supplied to the ABS in prior years. Any revisions are noted in the publication.

In order to ensure consistency in the data for each state and territory, Federal Defendants statistics are compiled according to national standards and classifications. A key classification is the Australian and New Zealand Standard Offence Classification (ANZSOC) (cat. no. 1234.0), as well as the related National Offence Index (NOI) (cat. no. 1234.0.55.001). However, some differences still occur due to state and territory legislative requirements or to limitations of the various administrative data bases that are used to extract the data.

Due to differing scope and counting rules the data in the Federal Defendants collection may not be comparable to data published in other national and state/territory publications.

The Federal Defendants publication contains detailed Explanatory Notes, appendices and Glossary that provide information on the data sources, counting rules, terminology, classifications and other technical aspects associated with these statistics.

A data dictionary, the National Criminal Courts Data Dictionary (cat. no. 4527.0) was developed by the ABS in collaboration with key stakeholders. It is a reference document which defines national data items and outlines methods for the use of 27 data elements and concepts that underpin the ABS and Council of Australian Governments (COAG) criminal courts collections. The data dictionary currently relates to the Higher and Magistrates' Criminal Courts.

The publication comprises summary text and a series of Data Cubes that provide detailed datasets at a national and state and territory level. For further information about these and related statistics, contact the National Information and Referral Service on 1300 135 070, or email client.services@abs.gov.au. The ABS Privacy Policy outlines how the ABS will handle any personal information that you provide to us.