NCJ Number
217710
Date Published
October 2006
Length
15 pages
Annotation
This report presents the results of a study examining the economic and social factors that underpin indigenous contact with the criminal justice system in New South Wales (NSW) utilizing the 2002 National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Survey (NATSISS).
Abstract
Study results contain a number of findings that may be of assistance in reducing Indigenous overrepresentation in the criminal justice system. The most important finding concerns substance use. The marginal effects of drug use are stronger than those of any other factor, with the exception of sex. Alcohol is the third strongest factor. The suggestion that drug and alcohol abuse is an important cause of Indigenous contact with the justice system is consistent with a large body of other evidence linking drug and alcohol abuse to increased risk of involvement in property and violent crime. Unemployment was also found to exert a significant effect on the risk of being charged and imprisoned. However, another factor that exerted a smaller effect was that of failure to complete Year 12 of school. Despite a concerted effort on the part of all Australian Governments to reduce Indigenous contact with the criminal justice system, rates of Indigenous court appearance and imprisonment are now higher than they were at the time of the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody. This study used the 2002 National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Survey (NATSISS) to identify factors which are predictive of Indigenous contact with the criminal justice system. Tables, references and appendixes 1-2