The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in restrictions that affected the volume of defendants finalised in the Criminal Courts over recent years. This context should be considered when comparing the federal defendants data for 2021–22 with earlier years.
Federal Defendants, Australia
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National statistics about defendants with federal offences in criminal courts including demographic, offence, outcome and sentence information
Reference period
2021-22 financial year
Released
4/05/2023
Key statistics
- 8,092 federal defendants finalised in 2021–22, up 2% from the previous year
- Harassment and threatening behaviour remained the most common principal federal offence (56%)
- Most judgements resulted in a guilty outcome (95%)
- Almost one-third of those with a guilty outcome received a fine (31%)
Impact of COVID-19
Federal Defendants in Australian Courts
This publication presents data related to defendants charged with an offence against Commonwealth (federal) legislation, who were finalised in an Australian criminal court in 2021–22. The data is a subset of the Criminal Courts, Australia collection.
The counting unit is a finalised defendant (see Glossary), excluding transfer between court levels.
There were 8,092 federal defendants finalised in 2021–22, an increase of 2% (148) from the previous year.
This represented 2% of total defendants finalised (488,936) in Australia’s state and territory criminal courts over the same period, as reported in Criminal Courts, Australia, 2021–22.
The median age of federal defendants was 37 years, and males accounted for more than three-quarters (78%).
| Demographics | Defendants (no.) | Defendants (%) |
|---|---|---|
| Male | 6,346 | 78 |
| Female | 1,631 | 20 |
| Organisations | 79 | 1 |
| Median age | 37.4 years | |
| Court level (a) | Defendants (no.) | Defendants (%) |
| Higher Courts | 869 | 10 |
| Magistrates' Court | 7,798 | 87 |
| Children's Court | 268 | 3 |
| Top 4 Principal Federal Offences (b) | Defendants (no.) | Defendants (%) |
| Harassment and threatening behaviour | 4,515 | 56 |
| Obtain benefit by deception | 570 | 7 |
| Non-assaultive sexual offences | 524 | 6 |
| Offences against government operations | 280 | 3 |
| Adjudicated finalisations | Defendants (no.) | Defendants (%) |
| Guilty outcome | 5,647 | 95 |
| Acquitted | 308 | 5 |
| Top 4 Principal Sentences | Defendants (no.) | Defendants (%) |
| Fines | 1,767 | 31 |
| Good behaviour bonds/recognisance | 1,281 | 23 |
| Custody in a correctional institution | 1039 | 18 |
| Community supervision or work orders | 521 | 9 |
a. Includes transfer to other court levels
b. based on Australian and New Zealand Standard Offence Classification (ANZSOC). See Methodology for full classification.
Principal federal offence
The most common principal offences in 2021–22 were:
- harassment and threatening behaviour (56% or 4,515 defendants), such as nuisance phone calls or sending threatening messages
- obtain benefit by deception (7% or 570 defendants), such as identity fraud
- non-assaultive sexual offences (6% or 524 defendants), such as the possession or distribution of child abuse material or grooming offences
- offences against government operations (3% or 280 defendants), such as taxation offences
a. excludes defendants finalised by transfer to other court levels
Harassment and threatening behaviour
Across the time series, the proportion of defendants of harassment and threatening behaviour has continued to increase, accounting for 17% of defendants in 2010–11 compared with 56% in 2021–22.
For defendants of this offence in 2021–22:
- 82% (3,686) were male
- Most (4,508) were classified to the ‘communications’ federal offence group, indicating the offence occurred online or by phone
- 94% (3,102) of judgements had a guilty outcome
- 10% (320) with a guilty outcome were sentenced to custody in correctional institution
Court outcomes
In 2021–22, of the federal defendants whose charges resulted in a court judgement, most (95% or 5,647) had a guilty outcome. For these defendants:
- A third (33%) were sentenced to a monetary order
- 23% were sentenced to a good behaviour bond
- 18% were sentenced to custody in a correctional institution
Across the time series, the proportion of defendants sentenced to monetary orders decreased from 49% in 2010-11 to 33% in 2021-22, and custody in a correctional institution increased slightly over this time (13% to 18%).
Data Downloads
Guide to finding data in the federal defendants publication tables
Data files
Federal defendants, Australia (Tables 1 to 4)
Data files
Federal defendants, Federal Offence Group, Australia (Tables 5 to 8)
Data files
Previous catalogue number
This release previously used catalogue number 4515.0.