1. What are the rates of offending for people with disability?

For all offence types, the disability cohort had higher rates of offending in every year between 2009-2018. Individuals in the disability cohort were around three times as likely to have committed violent and property offences, compared with the total NSW population.

Rates of offending were reasonably stable between 2009 and 2018, decreasing from 2,325 to 1,895 offenders per 100,000 population in the total population and from 5,397 to 4,674 offenders per 100,000 population in the disability cohort. For all offences, rates of offending in the disability cohort were between 2.32 and 2.61 times those in the total NSW population.

2. What is the profile of adult offenders with disability?

There were 565,263 adult offenders in NSW between 2009 and 2018. Of these offenders, 153,292 or 27.1% were identified as people with disability.

The most common offence type for adult offenders with disability were violent offences (11.2% of all adult offenders and 41.1% of all adult offenders with disability), followed by DV-related offences (7.4% of all adult offenders and 27.3% of all adult offenders with disability).

Of the 565,263 adult offenders between 2009 and 2018:

• 22.5% were non-Aboriginal adults with disability and 4.6% were Aboriginal adults with disability. 
• Aboriginal men with disability accounted for 3.0% of all adult offenders and 1.6% were Aboriginal women with disability. 
• Psychosocial disability was the most common disability type identified (20.7% of all offenders) followed by physical disability (10.6%), and cognitive disability (5.7%). 

Of the 153,292 adult offenders with disability between 2009 and 2018:

• 16.9% were Aboriginal and 83.1% were non-Aboriginal. 
• The majority (72.0%) were male and 28.0% were female. 
• Over three -quarters (76.4%) had psychosocial disability. 
• Almost two-thirds (62.8%) had been a victim of crime during the same period. 

3. What is the profile of young offenders with disability?

There were 73,910 young offenders between 2009 and 2018. Of these offenders, 17,719 or 24.0% were identified as people with disability.

The most common offence type for young offenders with disability were property offences (11.5% of all young offenders and 47.8% of all young offenders with disability), followed closely by violent offences (11.2% of all young offenders and 46.7% of all young offenders with disability).

Of the 73,910 young offenders between 2009 and 2018:

• 16.3% were non-Aboriginal young people with disability and 7.7% were Aboriginal young people with disability. 
• Young Aboriginal males with disability accounted for 5.3% of all young offenders and 2.3% were young Aboriginal females with disability. 
• Psychosocial disability was the most common disability type identified (16.5% of all young offenders) followed by cognitive disability (12.2%), and physical disability (5.0%). 

Of the 17,719 young offenders with disability between 2009 and 2018:

• 32.1% were Aboriginal and 67.9% were non-Aboriginal. 
• Over a quarter (27.8%) were female and 72.2% were male. 
• The most common disability type was psychosocial disability (68.7% of all young offenders with disability), followed by cognitive disability (51.1%). 
• 71.3% of young offenders with disability were identified as a having been a victim of crime.