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Appendix 6: Further data on victimisation and offending - Social Justice Report 2011

Social Justice Report 2011

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Appendix 6: Further data on victimisation and offending

Police Records

Only NSW, Queensland, South Australia and the Northern Territory data records
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander status of sufficient coverage or quality
to publish.

In NSW:

  • Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people were murdered at 4.5 times the
    rate; sexually assaulted at 3.7 times the rate; and assaulted at 3.3 times the
    rate of non-Indigenous people.
  • The offender was known to 93% of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
    female assault victims, compared to 78% of non-Indigenous female assault
    victims. The offender was known to 76% of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
    male assault victims, while almost 50% of non-Indigenous men were assaulted by
    strangers.[1]

In
Queensland:

  • Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people were assaulted at 4.3 times the
    rate; and sexually assaulted at 4.1 times the rate of non-Indigenous
    people.
  • The offender was known to 85% of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
    female assault victims, compared to 62% of non-Indigenous female assault
    victims. The offender was known to almost 72% of Aboriginal and Torres Strait
    Islander assault victims, while 58% of non-Indigenous men were assaulted by
    strangers.[2]

In South
Australia:

  • Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people were assaulted at 6.6 times the
    rate; the victim of attempted murder 4.8 times the rate; and sexually assaulted
    3.7 times the rate of non-Indigenous people.
  • The offender was known to 92% of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
    female assault victims, compared to 77% of non-Indigenous female assault
    victims. The offender was known to 71% of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
    male assault victims, while 55% of non-Indigenous men were assaulted by
    strangers.[3]

In the
Northern Territory:

  • Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people were assaulted at 5.2 times the
    rate; and sexually assaulted 2.5 times the rate of non-Indigenous people.
  • The offender was known to 88% of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
    female assault victims, compared to 64% of non-Indigenous female assault
    victims. The offender was known to 66% of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
    male assault victims, while 55% of non-Indigenous men were assaulted by
    strangers.[4]

Table 1
provides a comparison of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and
non-Indigenous homicides between 1999-2009, prepared by the Australian Institute
of Criminology for this report.

Table1: Comparison of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and
non-Indigenous Homicides-
1999-2009[5]
Circumstances and characteristics
Indigenous on Indigenous homicides (n=335)
Non-Indigenous on Non-Indigenous homicides (n=2,019)
 
%
(n)
%
(n)
Course of other crime
 
 
 
 
Yes
7.2
24
13.5
272
No
92.8
309
86.5
1 737
Single versus multiple victims and offenders
 
 
 
 
Single victim - single offender
90.8
304
80.6
1 628
Single victim - multiple offenders
7.8
26
13.7
276
Multiple victims - single offender
1.5
5
4.8
96
Multiple victims - multiple offenders
0.0
0
0.9
19
Gender (a)
 
 
 
 
Male offender on male victim
36.7
123
54.4
1,098
Male offender on female victim
37.3
125
32.8
663
Female offender on female victim
5.7
19
3.9
79
Female offender on male victim
20.3
68
8.9
179
Motive of the killing (a)
 
 
 
 
Domestic altercation (jealously, desertion)
49.4
161
32.1
609
Alcohol-related argument
26.1
85
10.8
205
Other argument (eg: money, drugs, etc)
14.7
48
44.7
848
No apparent motive/unknown
9.8
32
12.4
236
Alcohol involvement
 
 
 
 
Both victim and offender drinking
71.4
227
24.7
426
Victim drinking but not offender
3.1
10
8.2
142
Offender drinking but not victim
9.1
29
9.5
163
Neither victim nor offender drinking
16.4
52
57.6
994
Victim-offender relationship (a)
 
 
 
 
Intimate partners
46.0
154
26.0
525
Other family
24.8
83
18.9
382
Friends and acquaintances
26.3
88
37.9
766
Strangers
2.1
7
15.2
307
Other relationship
0.9
3
1.9
39

^Top


[1] Steering Committee for the
Review of Government Service Provision, Overcoming Indigenous Disadvantage:
Key Indicators 2011
, Productivity Commission (2011), p
4.127

[2] Steering Committee for
the Review of Government Service Provision, Overcoming Indigenous
Disadvantage: Key Indicators 2011
, Productivity Commission (2011), p
4.127.

[3] Steering Committee for
the Review of Government Service Provision, Overcoming Indigenous
Disadvantage: Key Indicators 2011
, Productivity Commission (2011), p
4.128.

[4] Steering Committee for
the Review of Government Service Provision, Overcoming Indigenous
Disadvantage: Key Indicators 2011
, Productivity Commission (2011), p
4.128.

[5] Australian Institute of
Criminology, Information provided to Office of the Social Justice Commissioner,
14 June 2011.