Three out five indigenous people more likely to commit crime in Australia

ADELAIDE - At least three out of every five indigenous people in Australia are more likely to commit a crime.

In the South Australian justice system, indigenous people are 11 times more likely to commit a crime than non-indigenous people, Australian Bureau of Statistics data shows.

“The next highest ratio of indigenous to non-indigenous offender rates was in the Northern Territory at eight times higher,” a report released today said.

“In New South Wales it was slightly less than eight times higher, and in Queensland it was less than seven times the rate of non-indigenous offenders.”

The bureau said offender rates varied wildly across different crimes.

“For offenders with a principal offence related to fraud and deception, indigenous offender rates for all four states and territory are two to five times higher than those of the non-indigenous population.

“For the principal offence of acts intended to cause injury, there is a marked difference between the indigenous and non-indigenous populations, with the indigenous offender rate being 10 to 16 times higher than the rates of the non-indigenous population.”

According to news.com.au, the look at recorded crime during 2008-09 revealed the overall prevalence of crime across the nation was rising.

Police acted against 344,300 alleged offenders aged 10 or over.

This was a six per cent increase on the previous year.

Women and men equally shared the rise with female offenders rising by eight per cent and the number of male offenders rising six per cent. (ANI)