OVERVIEW

This chapter presents national statistics about offenders aged 10 years and over who were proceeded against by police during the period 1 July 2014 to 30 June 2015. The statistics provide a profile of the principal offence for which an offender was proceeded against and the characteristics of the offender (e.g. age and sex). This chapter also provides an overview of state and territory statistics for each data item. Further information for each state and territory is available in the State and Territory Profiles.

Certain offences are excluded from the Recorded Crime - Offenders collection. For further information about the scope and counting methodology of 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 56-82 of the Explanatory Notes.

There were a total of 411,686 offenders proceeded against by police in Australia during 2014-15. This represented a 2% (or 6,985 offenders) increase from 2013-14, and equated to a national offender rate of 2,001 offenders per 100,000 persons aged 10 years and over in 2014-15. (Table 1)



The number of offenders increased between 2013-14 and 2014-15 in:

• Queensland (by 5,256 offenders, or 6%);
• New South Wales (by 4,271 offenders, or 4%);
• Western Australia (by 2,263 offenders, or 7%); and
• Tasmania (by 338 offenders, or 3%).

Over the same period, the number of offenders decreased in:

• South Australia (2,179 offenders, or 4%);
• Victoria (2,173 offenders, or 3%);
• Australian Capital Territory (404 offenders, or 13%); and
• Northern Territory (381 offenders, or 3%).

The highest offender rate was recorded in the Northern Territory, at 5,684 offenders per 100,000 persons aged 10 years and over. The Northern Territory also recorded the largest decrease in the offender rate from 2013-14, with 201 fewer offenders per 100,000 persons aged 10 years and over. Queensland reported the greatest increase over the past year with 95 more offenders per 100,000 persons aged 10 years and over. (Table 6)