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Australian crime : facts and figures 2001
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Australian crime : facts and figures 2001
Australian crime : facts and figures 2001
- ISBN 0 642 24253 4
- Canberra: Australian Institute of Criminology, 2002
Justice expenditure
According to the Report on Government Services 2001,
the total government expenditure on justice in 1999-2000
was over $6.4 billion. Since 1994-95, government
expenditure on justice has increased at a real average annual
growth rate of 8.4%.
Police services represented the largest component of the
justice system, accounting for approximately 65% of the
total justice-related expenditure covered by the report.
Corrective services accounted for a further 21% and court
administration accounted for the remaining 14% (Figure 89).
Figure 89 : Composition of government expenditure on justice, 1999-2000
Source: Reference 7.
Police
Policing activities are predominantly the responsibility of the
police agencies of State and Territory governments, with the
Australian Federal Police providing a community policing
service in the Australian Capital Territory on behalf of the
ACT Government. Funding for these services comes almost
exclusively from State and Territory government budgets,
with some specific-purpose grants being provided by the
Commonwealth.
The Commonwealth Government operates the Australian
Federal Police. The figures discussed below exclude
resource data for the AFP.
Expenditure
The total recurrent expenditure on police services across
Australia was $4.4 billion. This amounts to $228 for every
person in Australia, and $297 per adult. Recurrent
expenditure on staff salaries accounted for 77% of this total
expenditure.
Table 6 : Expenditure on Australian police services, 1999-2000| Expenditure | ($'000) |
|---|
| Total recurrent expenditure | 4 362 496 |
| Total capital expenditure | 306 747 |
| Total expenditure | 4 669 243 |
| Staff salaries | ($'000) |
|---|
| Average police staff salaries | 70 851 |
| Average non-police staff salaries | 40 158 |
Source: Reference 7.
Figure 90 : Recurrent expenditure on police services per head of adult population, 1999-2000
- Recurrent expenditure on police services per head
of adult population in 1999-2000 ranged from $279
in the ACT to $719 in the Northern Territory.
Source: Reference 7.
Staffing
Most people involved directly in the delivery of police
services are sworn police officers (employees recognised
under each jurisdiction's Police Act). Sworn police officers
exercise police powers such as the powers to arrest,
summons, caution, detain, fingerprint and search.
In recent years there has been a trend towards
'civilianisation' of police services, with some non-core
activities undertaken by non-sworn officers or contracted to
external providers.
- The total police services staffing in Australia on
30 June 2000 was 55 607, an increase of 1% on the
number recorded in 1999. This averages out at 290
per 100 000 persons (228 sworn police officers and
62 civilian employees).
- There were 43 722 sworn police officers and
11 885 civilian employees making up Australian
police services in 2000.
Table 7 : Composition of police services by jurisdiction, 30 June 2000| Jurisdiction | Sworn police officers | Civilian | Total | Sworn officers per 1,000 km 2 |
|---|
| NSW | 13 483 | 3 820 | 17 303 | 17 |
| Vic. | 9 955 | 1 751 | 11 706 | 44 |
| Qld | 7 700 | 2 907 | 10 607 | 4 |
| WA | 4 869 | 1 340 | 6 209 | 2 |
| SA | 3 696 | 823 | 4 519 | 4 |
| Tas. | 1 109 | 374 | 1 483 | 16 |
| NT | 934 | 208 | 1 142 | 1 |
| ACT | 584 | 86 | 670 | 248 |
| Australia * | 43 722 | 11 885 | 55 607 | 6 |
| * Includes Australian Federal Police. |
- New South Wales had the largest police service
across Australia, while the ACT had the smallest.
- Queensland employed the highest proportion of
civilian staff (27%), and the ACT employed the
lowest (13%).
- Since June 1995 there has been a 3% increase in
the number of sworn police officers and a 21%
increase in the number of civilian employees in the
police services of Australia.
Source: References 7, 14 and 15.
Figure 91 : Sworn police officers per 100 000 persons by jurisdiction, 30 June 1999 and 30 June 2000
- Generally there is little difference across
jurisdictions in the number of sworn police
officers per 100 000 population, with the exception
of the Northern Territory which is well above the
national average.
- The number of sworn police officers remained
relatively constant in all States and Territories in
Australia between 30 June 1999 and 30 June 2000,
with the exception of the ACT. In this case, the
number of sworn officers per 100 000 population
declined by 14%.
- The Northern Territory had the largest number of
police officers per 100 000 population (478), while
the ACT had the smallest (188). However, the ACT
had 248 police officers per 1 000km2, while the
Northern Territory had only one (Table 7).
Source: References 4 and 15.
Court administration
Court administration agencies throughout Australia provide
a range of services integral to the effective performance of
the judicial system. These agencies work with the judiciary
and the community to provide a court system that allows the
prompt resolution of disputes and appropriate access to
justice for the community.
- The total recurrent expenditure by State,
Territory and Commonwealth court authorities
was approximately $850 million in 1999-2000, an
annual increase of 5% (in real terms) since
1997-1998.
- Expenditure for criminal court administration was
about $378 million for 1999-2000.
Figure 92 : Total expenditure (less in-house revenue) for criminal courts, 1999-2000
- The Magistrates' Courts incurred 59% of total
criminal court expenditure in 1999-2000,
compared to 63% in 1998-1999.
Figure 93 shows the average expenditure per case lodgment
in the criminal courts. The higher the level of court, the
more expensive each criminal case lodgment becomes. This
is because the more complex and lengthy cases are tried in
the higher courts.
Figure 93 : Average expenditure per criminal case lodgment, 1998-1999 and 1999-2000
- Relative to 1998-1999, in 1999-2000 average
expenditure per criminal case lodgment increased
from $128 to $138 in the Magistrates' Courts,
$3 262 to $3 860 in the Intermediate Courts, and
$9 438 to $9 869 in the Supreme Courts.
Source: Reference 7.
Adult corrective services
Resources allocated for corrective services in Australia are
divided into two broad categories: prisons and community
corrections.
Total recurrent expenditure on corrective services in
Australia was approximately $1 345 million in 1999-2000;
$1 174 million (87%) for prisons, $137 million (10%) for
community corrections and $35 million (3%) for transport
and escort services. This corresponds to an average of $92
for every adult in Australia.
Figure 94 : Recurrent expenditure on corrective services per head of adult population, 1999-2000
- Recurrent expenditure on corrective services per
head of adult population in 1999-2000 ranged from
$55 in Victoria to $248 in the Northern Territory.
Figure 95 : Corrective services expenditure per prisoner/offender per day, 1999-2000
- Expenditure per prisoner per day was $131 in
1999-2000, ranging from $100 in Queensland to
$190 in the ACT.
- Expenditure per offender sentenced to community
correction programs per day was only $6 in
1999-2000.
- Prison expenditure was 22 times higher compared
to community corrections.
- Overall in 1999-2000 approximately $47 888 was
spent on each prisoner and $2 190 on each
offender sentenced to community correction
programs.
Source: References 4 and 7.
