Defendant numbers

In 2012–13, there were a total of 561,554 defendants finalised in Australia's criminal courts. This represented a decrease of 2% compared with 2011–12. (Tables 1 and 2)



At the state and territory level, Queensland contributed the most to national defendant numbers with 162,217 defendants (29%) followed by New South Wales with 136,579 defendants (24%) and Victoria with 99,233 defendants (18%). (Table 1)



The number of defendants decreased across most states and territories, except Victoria, Queensland and the Northern Territory where each increased by less than 2%. The largest decrease occurred in Tasmania (down by 2,751 defendants or 16%). (Tables 13, 18, 23, 28, 33, 38, 43 and 48)