INDIGENOUS STATUS, SELECTED STATES AND TERRITORIES

OVERVIEW

This chapter presents data about the Indigenous Status of offenders for New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory. Based on an ABS assessment, Indigenous Status data for other states are not of sufficient quality and/or do not meet ABS standards for self-identification for national reporting in 2016–17.

Indigenous Status is difficult to ascertain when police proceed by way of a penalty notice, as this does not provide an opportunity for police to ask individuals to self-identify. As a result, offenders who were proceeded against by a penalty notice have been excluded from the published Indigenous Status data. Therefore this publication does not include a count of all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander offenders proceeded against by police. This also affects Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander offender rates. For further information, refer to paragraph 29 of the Explanatory Notes.

For the data presented here, there remain a small proportion of offenders whose Indigenous Status was ‘not stated/unknown.’ In 2016–17 the proportion of unknowns was 7% in New South Wales, 2% in Queensland, 8% in South Australia and less than 1% in the Northern Territory. There were no offenders with an unknown Indigenous Status in the Australian Capital Territory. The proportion of offenders with an Indigenous Status of not stated/unknown can vary from year to year. For this reason, caution should be exercised when interpreting movements in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander data. For further information, refer to paragraph 30 of the Explanatory Notes.


PRINCIPAL OFFENCE

In 2016–17, Acts intended to cause injury was the most common principal offence for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander offenders for all of the states and territories for which Indigenous Status data were available. About half of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander offenders in New South Wales and the Northern Territory (49% and 50%) had a principal offence of Acts intended to cause injury; more than a third in South Australia and the Australian Capital Territory (36% and 35%) and a fifth in Queensland (20%).

Acts intended to cause injury was also the most common principal offence for non-Indigenous offenders in New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory (34% and 29% of non-Indigenous offenders). Illicit drug offences was the most common principal offence for non-Indigenous offenders in Queensland, South Australia¹ and the Northern Territory (34%, 32% and 30%). (Table 22)



SEX AND AGE

In 2016–17, the age range at which the offender rate peaked was older for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander offenders than for non-Indigenous offenders for all states and territories for which Indigenous Status data were available:

• For New South Wales and Queensland the peak age range was between 30 and 34 years for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander offenders (respectively 10,387 and 15,176 offenders per 100,000 persons). For non-Indigenous offenders the peak range was between 15 and 19 years (2,792 and 3,731 offenders per 100,000 persons).
• For South Australia and the Australian Capital Territory the peak age range was between 35 and 39 years for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander offenders (respectively 21,260 and 9,231 offenders per 100,000 persons). For non-Indigenous offenders the peak range was between 30 and 34 years for South Australia (2,730 offenders per 100,000 persons), and between 15 and 19 years for the Australian Capital Territory (1,750 offenders per 100,000 persons).
• For the Northern Territory the peak age range for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander offenders was between 25 and 29 years (12,629 offenders per 100,000 persons). For non-Indigenous offenders the peak range was between 20 and 24 years (1,559 offenders per 100,000 persons). (Table 24)

The ratio of male to female offender rates for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander offenders was lowest in Queensland, at twice the female rate (14,857 male offenders per 100,000 males, compared to 6,887 female offenders per 100,000 females). The ratio was highest in the Northern Territory at four times the female rate (12,584 compared to 3,578).

In contrast, the non-Indigenous offender rate for males was four times that for females in all selected states and territories in 2016–17 (except in Queensland where the male rate was three times higher). (Table 24)


AGE STANDARDISED OFFENDER RATES

The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population has a younger age distribution than the non-Indigenous population. Since offender rates are correlated with age, for some analysis it may be more appropriate to use age standardised rates when comparing populations. These rates adjust the crude rates to factor in the effect of the age structure of the population (see Explanatory Notes paragraphs 23–26).

The ratio of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander to non-Indigenous age standardised offender rates can then be used to compare the two populations. In 2016–17, the ratio of age standardised rates for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander offenders were five times the non-Indigenous offender rate in both New South Wales and Queensland and almost nine times for the Northern Territory. (Table 23)


REPEAT OFFENDERS

Queensland had the highest proportion of offenders proceeded against more than once during the 2016–17 reference period for both Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander offenders (51%) and non-Indigenous offenders (34%). The Australian Capital Territory had the lowest proportion of offenders proceeded against more than once for both population groups (34% and 16%). (Table 25)

Footnotes
1. Data may be overstated, see Explanatory Note 64