4519.0 - Recorded Crime - Offenders, 2012-13 Quality Declaration 
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 27/02/2014   
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INTRODUCTION

This chapter presents statistics about police proceedings during the period 1 July 2012 to 30 June 2013 for all states and territories, except Western Australia (for further information refer to paragraph 63 of the Explanatory Notes). As a consequence, national data are not available for police proceedings.

The statistics presented here describe the number of separate occasions on which an offender has a legal action initiated against them by police comprising court actions and non-court actions. Whilst these statistics refer specifically to court and non-court proceedings that were initiated by state and territory police only, the terms "proceedings", "court actions" and "non-court actions" have been used for simplicity.

Each proceeding is classified to a principal offence and a principal method of proceeding. For definitions of these terms, refer to Explanatory Notes, paragraphs 13-16 and paragraph 48.

These data provide a count of police-initiated legal proceedings. Please note it is not a count of offences nor a count of offenders. For more information about offenders refer to Chapter 2 - Offenders, Australia and Chapter 3 - Offenders, states and territories.

Certain offences are excluded from the Recorded Crime - Offenders collection. For further information about the scope and counting methodology for the collection refer to paragraphs 3-16 of the Explanatory Notes.

In this collection, national statistical standards and counting rules have been applied to facilitate comparisons of states and territories. However, some legislative and processing differences remain. For differences in legislation, processes or policies between states, refer to paragraphs 49-71 of the Explanatory Notes.

Between 2011-12 and 2012-13 the number of proceedings increased in the following states and territories:

  • New South Wales (13,419 proceedings, or 8%);
  • Victoria (12,555 proceedings, or 11%);
  • South Australia (6,753 proceedings, or 13%);
  • Northern Territory (3,077 proceedings, or 21%); and
  • Queensland (2,595 proceedings, or 2%).

Over the same period the number of proceedings decreased in the remaining jurisdictions:
  • Tasmania (4,391 proceedings, or 21%); and
  • Australian Capital Territory (340 proceedings, or 8%).

Graph Image for POLICE PROCEEDINGS, Selected states and territories(a) - 2008-09 to 2012-13

Footnote(s): (a) Excludes Western Australia (see Explanatory Notes paragraph 63). (b) South Australian data may be overstated (see Explanatory Notes paragraphs 60–61). (c) Australian Capital Territory data may be overstated (see Explanatory Notes paragraphs 70–71).

Source(s): Recorded Crime - Offenders

Movements in the number of police proceedings between 2011-12 and 2012-13 for the selected states and territories were generally in line with movements in the offender population. The exception was Queensland, where the number of police proceedings increased by 2%, while the number of offenders decreased by less than 1%. (Table 7 and Tables 21 – 27)

Between 2011-12 and 2012-13, Tasmania and the Australian Capital Territory recorded decreases in both the number of offenders and police proceedings. For Tasmania, the number of offenders and proceedings decreased by 19% (or 2,718) and 21% (or 4,391) respectively. For the Australian Capital Territory, the number of offenders decreased by 9% (or 287) and the number of proceeding decreased by 8% (or 340).

The Northern Territory recorded the largest percentage difference between movements in the number of offenders and police proceedings between 2011-12 and 2012-13. The number of offenders and proceedings increased by 8% and 21% respectively. (Table 7 and Table 26)

Graph Image for OFFENDERS AND POLICE PROCEEDINGS, Selected states and territories(a), Percentage change - 2011-12 to 2012-13

Footnote(s): (a) Excludes Western Australia (see Explanatory Notes paragraph 63). (b) South Australian data may be overstated (see Explanatory Notes paragraphs 60–61). (c) Australian Capital Territory data may be overstated (see Explanatory Notes paragraphs 70–71).

Source(s): Recorded Crime - Offenders