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People with disability are over-represented in the criminal justice system
In 2023, BOCSAR completed the Justice Test Case of the National Disability Data Asset (NDDA) pilot. The NSW Justice Test Case linked State and Commonwealth administrative data to examine a cohort of 2.8 million people who either received a core disability support and/or had contact with the NSW criminal justice system as a victim or as an offender over a 10-year period. The analysis found that people with disability were more likely than the general NSW population to be both crime victims and offenders.
This page presents findings from the NDDA Justice Test Case. Key insights can be accessed through the links below and the full studies are available in the related publications at the end of the page.
Key findings include:
- People with disability were more than twice as likely to have any offending contact compared with the total NSW population. They were around three times more likely to have domestic violence‑related or violent offending.
- People with disability were more than twice as likely to be victims of violent and domestic violence‑related crime.
- 27.1% of adult offenders were identified as people with disability.
- 47.9% of adults with custodial contact were identified as people with disability.
- 24.0% of young offenders were identified as people with disability.
- 40.8% of young people with custodial contact were people with disability.
- 18.0% of victims of crime were people with disability
- 24.0% of criminal incidents involved people with disability as victims.
Statistics drawn from this research can be explored in the sections below with interactive charts:
Key insights from the NDDA Justice Test Case
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