APPENDIX 2 INDIGENOUS VICTIMS OF CRIME, EXPLANATORY NOTES


INTRODUCTION

1 This publication presents experimental statistics of persons who are victims of a range of selected recorded crimes, shown by Indigenous status and most serious offence. The tables are provided in Appendix 1 for New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory. Police data collection of Indigenous status in these states/territories adheres to the ABS requirements of the Standard Indigenous Question in their recording of victim of crime information. The Standard Indigenous Question is asked, at a minimum, in respect of all victims of crimes against the person, and recorded in specified fields in police crime recording systems. Data for other states/territories are not of sufficient quality for national reporting, however data may be available for South Australia and the Northern Territory for the 2008 release. It is also expected that Queensland data will again be available for the 2008 release.


SCOPE

2 The Indigenous status data item has been collected for victims of a selected range of crimes against persons. It is not relevant for non-personal crimes.

3 The Standard Indigenous Question is based on self-identification by the individual who comes into contact with police. The answers to the Standard Indigenous "Question can be ‘No’, ‘Yes, Aboriginal’, or ‘Yes, Torres Strait Islander’. If the victim is of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander origin, both responses should be identified. If a victim does not supply an answer to this question, or is not asked, the Indigenous status field should be recorded as 'not stated'.

4 As a result, the minimum output categories required in systems are:

• Aboriginal, but not Torres Strait Islander origin
• Torres Strait, but not Aboriginal origin
• Both Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander origin
• Neither Aboriginal nor Torres Strait Islander origin
• Not stated/inadequately described.

5 Due to the constraints of small numbers, the output categories used in this publication are limited to:

• Indigenous (Aboriginal, Torres Strait Islander or Both Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander origin)
• Non-Indigenous (Neither Aboriginal nor Torres Strait Islander origin)
• Not stated/inadequately described.

POLICE PROCESSES

6 Victims of crime in the jurisdictions for which data are presented in Appendix 1 are asked the Standard Indigenous Question when providing an initial report or when they are interviewed. In certain situations, at the discretion of a Police Officer, the Standard Indigenous Question may not be asked of victims. For example, a Police Officer may consider a victim to be too traumatised, too young or immature to answer the question, or otherwise incapable of understanding or responding to the question. If the Standard Indigenous Question is not asked under these circumstances, a not-stated response is recorded.

7 Where individuals are not able to provide an answer for themselves, jurisdictions would accept a response where a next of kin/guardian provides the information. For victims who are not considered adults, a parent/guardian will often be required to be present while they are being interviewed.

8 In New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory, individual Police Officers are responsible for directly entering details of an incident into the recording system. The Standard Indigenous Question field in crime recording systems is also linked to a specific incident. Therefore, a victim will have a separate Indigenous status response recorded for each individual incident.

9 New recruits entering the Police Force in each jurisdiction are trained in the reporting and recording requirements for Indigenous status.

10 Each jurisdiction reported that whenever new systems are implemented or significantly upgraded, Officers are trained in using the system to coincide with the release.


KNOWN DATA QUALITY ISSUES

11 Data recorded as 'not stated' cannot currently be disaggregated any further to provide information about the reason for the unknown data in the Australian Capital Territory. Therefore it is not possible to differentiate between refusals to answer, where the question was not asked, or where people did not know the answer, for example. In the Australian Capital Territory, quality assurance is not pursued if a ‘not stated’ or ‘inadequately described’ response is received and signed-off by a supervising officer.

12 In New South Wales, it may be possible to differentiate between refusals to answer, where the question was not asked, or where people did not know the answer, for example. Quality assurance is not pursued if an 'unknown' or 'refused' response is received and signed-off by a supervising officer.

13 It is possible that the Torres Strait Islander component of Indigenous status data is slightly inflated, due to persons incorrectly identifying as such, when they are of other islander origin, such as Pacific Islander. This is thought to have little significant effect upon the final data.


INDIGENOUS VICTIMISATION RATES

14 Rates for the Indigenous population in this publication are based on the low series projections for 30 June 2007 (Experimental Estimates and Projections, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians, 30 June 1991 to 30 June 2009 (cat. no. 3238.0). These projections are based on the 2001 Census of Population and Housing. New series of Indigenous population projections are scheduled for release in 2009 and will be based on the 2006 Census of Population and Housing.

15 The low series are one of two series of these projections that have been published for the years 2002 to 2009.

• The low series assumes no 'unexplained growth' - that is, the Indigenous population recorded in the 2001 Census of Population and Housing is projected to change only as a result of births and deaths (natural increase) and, for the states and territories, as a result of interstate migration. According to the low series, the projected population at June 2007 for New South Wales was 148,542 and the Australian Capital Territory 4,490.
• The high series assumes that there will be 'unexplained growth' in the Indigenous population - that is, the Indigenous population is projected to change as a result of an unexplained component in addition to the effects of natural increase and interstate migration. The size of the unexplained component is based on the 'unexplained growth' observed between the 1996 and 2001 censuses. According to the high series, the projected population at June 2007 for New South Wales was 169,479 and the Australian Capital Territory 5,385.