Appendix 6: Further data on victimisation and offending - Social Justice Report 2011
Examine data on victimisation and offending among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples from four states and the Northern Territory.
Summary
Only NSW, Queensland, South Australia and the Northern Territory data records Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander status of sufficient coverage or quality to publish.
Social Justice Report 2011
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 |
[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.