Queensland Government Statistician’s Office QUEENSLAND TREASURY Changing patterns in the age distribution of crime in Queensland Crime research report April 2021 Queensland Government Statistician’s Office Queensland Government Statistician’s Office Queensland Treasury www.qgso.qld.gov.au © The State of Queensland (Queensland Treasury) 2021 The Queensland Government supports and encourages the dissemination and exchange of information. However, copyright protects this publication. The State of Queensland has no objection to this material being reproduced, made available online or electronically but only if it is recognised as the owner of the copyright and this material remains unaltered. Licence This document is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0) International licence. 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Changing patterns in the age distribution of crime in Queensland ii Queensland Government Statistician’s Office Contents Acronyms .................................................................................................................... v Summary ................................................................................................................... vii 1.0 Introduction ...................................................................................................... 1 2.0 Background ...................................................................................................... 2 2.1. Age and crime ..................................................................................................................................... 2 2.2. Recent changes in offending patterns ................................................................................................. 2 2.3. Research objectives ............................................................................................................................ 2 3.0 Method .............................................................................................................. 3 3.1. Data .................................................................................................................................................... 3 3.2. Prevalence, frequency and age distribution of frequency of offending ................................................. 3 3.3. Limitations ........................................................................................................................................... 4 4.0 Results .............................................................................................................. 5 4.1. Offender and offences overview .......................................................................................................... 5 4.2. Age–crime offending patterns .............................................................................................................. 6 4.3. Offending patterns by gender .............................................................................................................. 8 4.4. Offending patterns by Indigenous status ........................................................................................... 13 4.5. Offending patterns by gender and Indigenous status ......................................................................... 18 5.0 Discussion ...................................................................................................... 27 5.1. Key findings ....................................................................................................................................... 27 5.2. Explaining changes in youth offending patterns ................................................................................. 28 5.3. Future research ................................................................................................................................. 29 5.4. Conclusion ........................................................................................................................................ 29 Glossary and explanatory notes .............................................................................. 31 References ................................................................................................................ 34 Appendix A: Additional tables ................................................................................. 36 Changing patterns in the age distribution of crime in Queensland iii Queensland Government Statistician’s Office Tables and figures Table 1 Descriptive statistics related to offences, events and offenders in each reference period ........... 5 Table 2 Descriptive statistics of male and female offenders, 2008–09 and 2017–18 ............................... 8 Table 3 Descriptive statistics of Indigenous and non-Indigenous offenders, 2008–09 and 2017–18 ...... 13 Table 4 Descriptive statistics of offenders by Indigenous status and gender, 2008–09 and 2017–18 .... 18 Figure 1 Age-specific rates of offending for unique offenders in Queensland, 2008–09 and 2017–18 ...... 6 Figure 2 Average number of events by age of offender, 2008–09 and 2017–18 ....................................... 7 Figure 3 Age distribution of frequency of crime, 2008–09 and 2017–18 ................................................... 8 Figure 4 Age-specific rates of male offenders .......................................................................................... 9 Figure 5 Average events by age of male offenders ................................................................................ 10 Figure 6 Age distribution of frequency of crime: male offenders ............................................................. 10 Figure 7 Age-specific rates of female offenders...................................................................................... 11 Figure 8 Average events by age of female offenders by age .................................................................. 12 Figure 9 Age distribution of frequency of crime: female offenders .......................................................... 12 Figure 10 Age-specific rates of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander offenders ........................................ 14 Figure 11 Average events by age: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander offenders ................................... 15 Figure 12 Age distribution of frequency of crime: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander offenders ............ 15 Figure 13 Age-specific rates of non-Indigenous offenders ........................................................................ 16 Figure 14 Average events by age: non-Indigenous offenders ................................................................... 17 Figure 15 Age distribution of frequency of crime: non-Indigenous offenders ............................................. 17 Figure 16 Age-specific rates of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander male offenders ............................... 19 Figure 17 Average events by age: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander male offenders .......................... 20 Figure 18 Age distribution of frequency of crime: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander male offenders .... 20 Figure 19 Age-specific rates of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander female offenders ............................ 21 Figure 20 Average events by age: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander female offenders ....................... 22 Figure 21 Age distribution of frequency of crime: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander female offenders . 22 Figure 22 Age-specific rates of non-Indigenous male offenders ............................................................... 23 Figure 23 Average events by age: Non–Indigenous male offenders ......................................................... 24 Figure 24 Age distribution of frequency of crime: Non–Indigenous male offenders ................................... 24 Figure 25 Age-specific rates of non–Indigenous female offenders ........................................................... 25 Figure 26 Average events by age: Non-Indigenous female offenders ....................................................... 26 Figure 27 Age distribution of frequency of crime: Non–Indigenous female offenders ................................ 26 Changing patterns in the age distribution of crime in Queensland iv Queensland Government Statistician’s Office Acronyms ABS Australian Bureau of Statistics ERP estimated resident population NSW New South Wales QGSO Queensland Government Statistician’s Office QPRIME Queensland Police Records and Information Management Exchange QPS Queensland Police Service Changing patterns in the age distribution of crime in Queensland v Queensland Government Statistician’s Office Research at a glance Changing patterns in the age distribution of crime in Queensland There have been changes in offender demographic composition and their offending frequency. These changes are likely to have implications for the development of criminal justice responses. * When