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Australian Crime : facts and figures 2004

4. Selected offender profiles

The ABS does not yet publish offender data but is working towards developing an offender-based collection. In October 2002 the National police custody survey was conducted for the fourth time by the Australian Institute of Criminology. As this survey is conducted over a one-month period it only provides a snapshot in time. The survey focuses on Indigenous Australians in police custody but also looks at other characteristics of persons held in police custody.

Persons held in police custody

  • In 2002 women accounted for 23% of Indigenous persons in custody, whereas they accounted for only 14% of non-Indigenous persons in custody.
  • Juveniles (those aged less than 17) were also overrepresented, accounting for just under 13% of all custody incidents involving Indigenous people and just under 7% of all custody incidents involving non-Indigenous people.

Source: Reference 26

Alleged offenders

Official data on gender and age of alleged offenders are published by the police services of Victoria, Queensland and South Australia and refer to persons who have allegedly committed a criminal offence and who have been processed for that offence. Police statistics on alleged offenders are not available from the remaining states and territories.

This chapter presents data on alleged offenders classified according to gender and age. These data should be interpreted with great caution as they only reflect police processing of offenders in three states and may not be representative of national trends. The main purpose is to give an indicative view of major issues relating to offenders, in particular the following:

  • What is the age at which offender rates peak?
  • Is the age pattern of male offender rates similar to or different from that of females?
  • Are female offender rates on the increase?
  • How does the age pattern of male offenders compare with that of females?

The number of alleged offenders does not equate to the number of distinct offenders during a year because police may take action against the same individual for several offences, or the individual may be processed on more than one occasion for the same offence type. Nor does it equate to the total number of crimes cleared during a given period, as one crime may involve more than one offender.

Throughout this chapter, the terms 'offender' and 'offender rate' refer to alleged offenders and the alleged offender rate. The term 'total offender population' refers to the total number of (not necessarily distinct) individuals aged 10 years and over processed by police for any of the offences listed below in the states of Victoria, Queensland and South Australia. The rates of total offenders included in the tables and graphs in this chapter are calculated relative to the total population aged 10 years and over in these jurisdictions (Reference 3). The data are presented on a financial year basis.

The offender data included here are for the following major types of crime:

  • homicide and related offences (murder, attempted murder, manslaughter, infanticide and driving causing death);
  • assault;
  • sexual assault;
  • robbery;
  • unlawful entry with intent;
  • motor vehicle theft;
  • other theft (theft from a vehicle, theft from shops, other theft); and
  • fraud and deception-related crime.

Source: References 10-13

Age

Persons aged 15 to 19 years are the age group most likely to be processed by police for the commission of a crime. In 2002-2003 the offending rate for persons aged 15 to 19 years was four times the offender rate for the remainder of the population (6,546 per 100,000 and 1,579 per 100,000 respectively).

Source: References 2,3,4 and 10-13

Gender

In 2002-2003, Victoria, Queensland and South Australia processed a total of 175,872 offenders, of whom 138,232 were male and 37,640 were female. Females made up 22% of all offenders in 1995-1996 and 21% in 2002-2003.

Source: References 2,3,4 and 10-13

Males

Females

Juveniles

There are differences among the states in the definition of a juvenile. In Victoria and Queensland the definition includes persons aged between 10 and 16 years. In South Australia, however, a juvenile is a person aged between 10 and 17 years. In this section, for the purposes of maintaining comparability, the term 'juvenile offender' includes alleged offenders aged between 10 and 16 years.

In 2002-2003, juveniles accounted for one-fifth of the total offender population, yet only accounted for one-tenth of the population aged 10 and over.

Source: References 2, 3, 4 and 10-13

Specific offences

Gender and age patterns of offenders vary by offence type and over time. While males account for the majority of offenders for each type of crime discussed in this section, the level of female involvement in crime has increased for some offences since 1995-1996.

The age structure of the offender population also differs according to gender. A larger percentage of female offenders are juveniles compared with male offenders.

Homicide

Approximately 2% of homicide offenders in 2002-2003 were juveniles and 13% were female. These figures have decreased slightly since 1995-1996.

Source: References 2,3,4 and 10-13

Assault

Approximately 12% of assault offenders in 2002-2003 were juveniles, and 18% were female. Juveniles accounted for a higher percentage of female assault offenders (19%) compared with males (10%).

Source: References 2,3,4 and 10-13

Sexual assault

In 2002-2003, 98% of sexual assault offenders were male.

Eleven per cent of the offender population were juveniles, a percentage that has increased from 8% since 1995-1996.

Source: References 2,3,4 and 10-13

Robbery

In 2002-2003, 12% of robbery offenders were female, down from 15% in 1995-96. Twenty-six per cent were juveniles, a decrease from 31% since 1995-1996.

Source: References 2,3,4 and 10-13

Motor vehicle theft

In 2002-2003, 29% of motor vehicle theft offenders were juveniles, down from 36% in 1995-1996. Twelve per cent of motor vehicle theft offenders were female, an increase from 9% in 1995-1996.

Source: References 2,3,4 and 10-13

Unlawful entry with intent

Females accounted for 10% of UEWI offenders, a slight change from 9% in 1995-1996. Juveniles accounted for 25% of UEWI offenders in 2002-2003, a decrease from 34% in 1995-1996.

Source: References 2,3,4 and 10-13

Other theft

Relative to the other major crimes included in this chapter, 'other' theft offences such as shoplifting had relatively high involvement of both females and juveniles. In 2002-2003, 28% of offenders involved in this offence type were female and 30% were juveniles.

Source: References 2,3,4 and 10-13

Fraud and deception-related crime

Fraud and deception-related crime has a relatively high female involvement (34%). Fraud offenders also tend to be older. In 2002-2003 approximately two in every three offenders were over 25 years of age. Juveniles accounted for less than 3% of persons alleged to have committed fraud and deception-related crime.

Source: References 2,3,4 and 10-13

Drug use by offenders

Police detainees

The AIC's Drug use monitoring in Australia (DUMA) program monitors illicit drug use among police detainees in several sites across Australia on a quarterly basis. DUMA provides a reasonable and independent indicator of drugrelated crime within these specific areas. Two methods are used to obtain this information: a questionnaire and a urine sample. As an ongoing monitoring system, DUMA enables law enforcement to track long-term changes in drugs and crime. 2003 was the fifth year of data collection in the DUMA program, and the second year of the second phase of data collection. Funding was provided by the Australian Government Attorney-General's Department and South Australian Attorney-General's Department.

By 2002 seven sites were being monitored: East Perth in Western Australia, Southport and Brisbane City in Queensland, Bankstown and Parramatta in New South Wales, and Adelaide and Elizabeth in South Australia. Brisbane City, Adelaide City and Elizabeth began participating in 2002.

Data are collected quarterly and presented in the following figures as annual averages.

Source: Reference 27