Summary
Aim
The over-representation of Aboriginal Australians in custody is a matter of long-standing and justified public concern. Latest figures indicate that the Aboriginal imprisonment rate in NSW is nearly 10 times the non-Aboriginal imprisonment rate (Australian Bureau of Statistics 2020). Given that Aboriginal offenders are substantially overrepresented in prison, one would expect that they are also substantially over-represented at other stages of the Criminal Justice System.
The Closing the Gap Quarterly Report shows performance against two key indicators of Aboriginal over-representation in the justice system:
- The number of Aboriginal people in custody
- The number of court appearances involving Aboriginal people
The report also look at secondary measures which contribute to changes in custody and court volumes, including police actions, bail decisions, bail breaches, court outcomes and reoffending. Separate reports are available for Aboriginal adults (target 10) and Aboriginal young people (target 11).
- Target 10 – In December 2024 there were 4,114 Aboriginal adults in custody. As of December 2024, 32.3% of the adult custody population were Aboriginal - the highest proportion ever recorded. Both the number of Aboriginal men (up 434 or 13.1%) and Aboriginal women (up 43 or 13.6%) increased from December 2022 to December 2024. The increase in the prison population is mainly due to an increase in remand. In December 2024, the number of Aboriginal people held on remand in NSW was 1,877, up 28.8% since December 2022. The most common offences for which Aboriginal adults were on remand were DV assault (404 or 21.5% of the remand population) and non-DV assault (331 or 17.6% of the remand population). Both the number of Aboriginal adults proceeded against to court (up 3.4% or 1,145) and the number who were police and court bail refused has increased over the last year. In Q4 2024, police bail refusal rate increased to 40.8% (up 3.3 percentage points from 37.5% in Q4 2022) and the court bail refusal rate increased to 22.0% (up 2.1 percentage points from 19.9% in Q4 2022).
- Target 11 – In December 2024 there were 129 Aboriginal young people in detention, which is 57.3% of the youth detention population. Currently, four-fifths (79.8%) of Aboriginal young people in detention are on remand (103 Aboriginal young people). Over the two years to December 2024, the Aboriginal youth remand population has increased by 68.9% (up from 61 in December 2022 to 103 in December 2024). The main offences for which Aboriginal young people are in custody are break and enter (27.1% or 35 young people), car theft (17.8% or 23 young people) and robbery (13.2% or 17 young people). Two-thirds (68.2%) of Aboriginal young people in custody are from Regional NSW, with 40% of Aboriginal young people in custody coming from New England and North West, Far West & Orana and Richmond-Tweed. Over the last two years, the number of Aboriginal young people proceeded against to court has remained stable, while the number of young people formally diverted from court by way of a police issued warning, caution or youth justice conference have decreased by 11.5% (or 444 fewer Aboriginal young people being diverted). The average length of time Aboriginal young people are spending in custody has also increased, up 5 days from 19 days in 2023 to 24 days in 2024.