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National Agreement on Closing the Gap
The Closing the Gap framework is an Australian government strategy that aims to reduce disadvantage among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. The objective of the National Agreement on Closing the Gap (the National Agreement) is to enable Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and governments to work together to overcome the inequality experienced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, and achieve life outcomes equal to all Australians.
The over-representation of Aboriginal Australians in the Criminal Justice System 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). The National Agreement has 17 national socio-economic targets across areas that have an impact on life outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Three of the targets relate to crime and justice.
- Target 10: Adults are not over-represented in the criminal justice system
- Target 11: Young people are not over-represented in the criminal justice system
- Target 13: Aboriginal female and young victims of violence
Statistics representing the progress towards each of these targets can be explored in the sections below with interactive dashboards:
Reduce the rate of Aboriginal adults held in incarceration by at least 15%.
Reduce the rate of Aboriginal young people in youth detention by at least 30%
The rate of family violence against Aboriginal women and children is reduced by at least by 50%
Ensuring Aboriginal communities have shared and equitable access to data and information
How do you access community-level data from BOCSAR?
If you're looking for crime statistics that relate to your commuity we've got some great tools that can help you out:
- BOCSAR Crime Mapping Tool: This handy tool provides maps, graphs, and data on criminal incidents, victims, and offenders at the LGA, postcode, and suburb level. It's a great way to get a visual overview of what's happening in your area.
- Community-level Closing the Gap Data: This resource offers regional insights on youth diversion, adult and youth court appearances, custody episodes, and domestic violence victimisation. It focuses on these Close the Gap targets:
- Local Area Datasets: These datasets provide a snapshot of criminal incidents, offenders, and victims for each Local Government Area in NSW. It's a quick way to get detailed information about your community.
How to get in contact with BOCSAR?
We'd love to hear from you! If you need specific data or support with making a data request, feel free to reach out to us. We're always eager to find better ways to share data with Aboriginal communities. You can email us at bcsr@dcj.nsw.gov.au.
What are we currently doing to progress Aboriginal data governance?
At BOCSAR, we're working closely with the Aboriginal Legal Service (ALS) to improve access to justice data for Aboriginal people in NSW. Together, we've set up an Aboriginal Governance group to oversee data and research in justice. This group is all about empowering communities, improving data quality, and promoting self-determination through Indigenous Data Sovereignty and Governance.
Here's what we're doing:
- Quarterly Meetings: The Governance group meets every quarter to collaborate with BOCSAR and the ALS. We're focused on increasing engagement, capability, shared decision-making, and partnership between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, community-controlled organizations, and the government.
- Influencing Data Collection: We ensure that the priorities of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and community-controlled organizations shape how justice data is collected, used, and shared.
- Transparency: We make sure that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and community-controlled organizations know what justice data the government holds and how they can access it.
- Advocacy: We're advocating for the government's commitments to data access as outlined in the National Agreement on Closing the Gap.
By working together, we're setting an example for how Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander data should be managed and used within the government ecosystem.
Aboriginal people are disproportionately represented at each stage of the Criminal Justice System. Aboriginal people constitute just 3% of the NSW adult population and 8% of the NSW population aged 10-17 years but comprise more than 30% of the adult prison population and 50% of the youth detention population.
Infographics
Adults - Aboriginal adult over-representation in the justice system (PDF, 4.3 MB)
Aboriginal young people - Aboriginal youth over-representation in the justice system (PDF, 3.9 MB)
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