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Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Performance Framework - Summary report

Justice

Criminal justice systems are the responsibility of state and territory governments. Each jurisdiction has its own legislation, and policies and practices in relation to courts, corrections and policing. Education, employment, income, and housing disparities are not only associated with a large part of the health gap between First Nations people and non-Indigenous Australians, but also with imprisonment among First Nations people (Pricewaterhouse Coopers 2017).

Two Closing the Gap targets relate to over-representation of First Nations people in the criminal justice system:

  • Target 11: By 2031, reduce the rate of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people (10–17 years) in detention by at least 30 per cent
  • Target 10: By 2031, reduce the rate of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander adults held in incarceration by at least 15 per cent.

See Targets 10 and 11 in the Closing the Gap Information Repository.

In 2021–22, a total of 4,217 First Nations young people were under youth justice supervision at some time during the year (including both community-based supervision and detention), which corresponds to 47% of all young people (8,982) in youth justice supervision.

On an average day in 2021–22 there were 2,182 First Nations young people under youth justice supervision. Of these, 82% (1,781) were aged 10–17 and 18% (401) were aged 18 and over (AIHW 2023d).

Of First Nations young people under youth justice supervision during 2020–21, almost 2 in 3 (64%) had an interaction with the child protection system in the previous 5 years.

In 2021–22, on an average day, First Nations young people aged 10–17 (121.1 per 10,000 young people) were nearly 19 times as likely to be under youth justice supervision as non-Indigenous young people (6.5 per 10,000 young people).

Over the decade from 2012–13 to 2021–2022, the rate of First Nations young people aged 10–17 under youth justice supervision decreased by 32% (Figure 5.8). The gap with non-Indigenous young people, based on rate difference, narrowed by 32%.

The relative difference in rates between First Nations and non-Indigenous young people, as measured by the rate ratio, generally increased over the decade (from 15 to 19). This reflects a larger relative reduction in the rate for non-Indigenous young people (43% compared with 32% for First Nations young people).

Figure 5.8: National rate of supervision of young people aged 10–17 years on an average day from 2012–13 to 2021–22; and age-standardised adult imprisonment rate from 2013 to 2022, by Indigenous status

The first line chart shows that over the period from 2012-13 to 2021-22, the rate of First Nations young people aged 10-17 under youth justice supervision decreaed from 180 per 10,000 to 121 per 10,000. The rate of non-Indigenous young people also decreased over this period. The second line chart shows that from 2013 to 2022, the rate of adult imprisonment increased for First Nations people (from 1,630 to 2,151 per 100,000) while the rate for non-Indigenous Australians remained stable (from 133 to 151) over the period.

Note: Youth justice supervision presents the rate of young people aged 10–17 under youth justice supervision on an average day. The ABS National Prisoner Census of adult imprisonment is a census of all persons in the legal custody of adult corrective services in all states and territories as at midnight 30 June of the reference year. Data in Queensland prior to 2019 include people aged 17.
Source: Measure 2.11, Table D2.11.1 – AIHW Youth Justice National Minimum Dataset (YJ NMDS); and Measure 2.11, Table D2.11.12 – AIHW analysis of ABS National Prisoner Census data.

Most First Nations people have never been imprisoned (ABS 2016). However, they have contact with the criminal justice system – as both offenders and victims – at much higher rates than non-Indigenous Australians (AIHW 2021b, SCRGSP 2020).

As at 30 June 2022, there were 12,902 First Nations adults in prison. This corresponds to about 2 in every 100 First Nations adults in prison. Of First Nations adults in prison:

  • about 9 in 10 (91% or 11,744) were male
  • nearly 4 in 10 (39% or 5,004) were unsentenced.

In 2022, the age-standardised rate of imprisonment among First Nations adults (2,151 per 100,000 adults) was over 14 times the rate of non-Indigenous adults (151 per 100,000 adults). The median aggregate sentence (total length of imprisonment if an offender committed multiple offences) was lower for First Nations adults in prison (2.5 years) than for non-Indigenous adults in prison (4.5 years). Three-quarters (72%) of sentences for First Nations adults in prison were under 5 years, compared with 50% for non-Indigenous adults in prison (ABS 2023e).

Over the decade between 2013 and 2022, based on linear regression, there was a 31% increase in the age-standardised imprisonment rate for First Nations adults but no statistically significant change for non-Indigenous adults. As a result, the absolute and relative gaps in the adult imprisonment rate between First Nations and non-Indigenous adults widened.

Based on self-reported data from the 2014–15 National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Survey:

  • 47.6% of First Nations males aged 15 and over and 23.0% of First Nations females aged 15 and over were formally charged by the police at some time in their life.
  • 20.4% of First Nations males aged 15 and over and 9.2% of First Nations females aged 15 and over were arrested in the past 5 years.
  • 5.3% of First Nations males aged 15 and over and 1.1% of First Nations females aged 15 and over were incarcerated in the past 5 years (ABS 2016).

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