Report on Government Services 2023

Police services are the principal means through which State and Territory governments pursue the achievement of a safe and secure environment for the community. Across jurisdictions, police activity can be grouped into four broad activity areas:

• Community safety – preserving public order and promoting a safer community
• Crime – investigating crime and identifying and apprehending offenders
• Road safety – targeted operations to reduce the incidence of traffic offences and through attendance at, and investigation of, road traffic collisions and incidents

• Judicial services – support to the judicial process including the provision of safe custody for alleged offenders.

Police services also respond to more general needs in the community — for example, working with emergency management organisations and a wide range of government services and community groups, and advising on general policing issues.

Police services are predominantly the responsibility of State and Territory government agencies. They include the ACT community policing function performed by the Australian Federal Police (AFP) under an arrangement between the ACT and the Commonwealth Minister for Justice.

The Australian Government is responsible for the AFP. Data for the national policing function of the AFP and other national non-police law enforcement bodies (such as the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission) are not included in this Report.

Funding for police services comes almost exclusively from State and Territory governments, with some limited specific purpose Australian Government grants. Nationally in 2021-22, total real recurrent expenditure (including user cost of capital, less revenue from own sources and payroll tax) was $14.8 billion with an average annual growth rate of 4.5 per cent for the five years to 2021-22 (table 6A.1).

Client groups

As a universal service, all community members are recipients of policing services. Some members of the community, who have more direct dealings with the police, can be considered specific client groups, for example:

• victims of crime
• people suspected of, or charged with, committing offences
• people reporting criminal incidents
• people involved in traffic-related incidents
• third parties (such as witnesses to crime and people reporting traffic accidents)
• people requiring police services for non-crime-related matters.

Staffing

Police staff are categorised according to:

• ‘sworn’ status — sworn police officers exercise police powers, including the power to arrest, summons, caution, detain, fingerprint and search. Specialised activities may be outsourced or undertaken by administrative (unsworn) staff
• operational status — an operational police staff member is any member (sworn or unsworn) whose primary duty is the delivery of police or police-related services to an external client (where an external client predominately refers to members of the public but may also include law enforcement outputs delivered to other government departments).

Operational status is considered the better estimate of the number of police staff actively engaged in the delivery of police-related services. Nationally in 2021-22, 90.4 per cent of the 79 963 police staff were operational. This proportion has decreased every year since 2017-18 (92.2 per cent). There were 281 operational police per 100 000 people nationally in 2021-22. Rates varied across jurisdictions from 205 to 313, except the NT with a rate of 730 (figure 6.1 and table 6A.2).

Responsiveness

The responsiveness of police to calls for assistance is critical to the effectiveness of police services. Although the Steering Committee considers reporting on nationally comparable response times a priority for this Report, there is currently no consistent public reporting of response times across states and territories. NSW, Queensland, WA, SA and the ACT police publish response times data in annual reports. Other jurisdictions do not report response times as part of their corporate reporting and have advised they are unable to provide these data for this Report.

• NSW Police Force report the number of urgent (imminent threat to life or property) response calls and the percentage attended within a target time of 12 minutes. In 2021-22, NSW Police Force responded to 157 610 urgent response calls, attending 75.0 per cent of urgent duty jobs within the 12 minute target time (NSW Police Force 2022).
• Queensland Police Service report the percentage of code 1 and code 2 incidents attended within 12 minutes. Data includes geographic areas covered by the Queensland Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) System. Code 1 and 2 incidents include very urgent matters when danger to human life is imminent and urgent matters involving injury or present threat of injury to person or property. In 2021-22, Queensland Police Service attended 78.2 per cent of urgent matters within the 12 minute target time (Queensland Police Service 2023).
• WA Police Force aim to respond to 80 per cent of priority 1 and 2 incidents – situations that require urgent attendance and include an imminent threat to life, serious offence or incident in progress – within 12 minutes in the Perth metropolitan area. WA Police report that they met this target in 80.8 per cent of priority 1 and 2 incidents in 2021-22. The target for priority 3 incidents – situations that require routine attendance and include an offence in progress/suspect at the scene or the preservation of evidence – is 80 per cent within 60 minutes in the Perth metropolitan area (83.1 per cent achieved in 2021-22) (WA Police Force 2022).
• SA Police reported that 94.8 per cent of Grade 1 taskings in the metropolitan area were responded to within 15 minutes in 2021-22 (SA Police 2022). The target is 80 per cent or above.
• ACT Policing report response time targets for three incident categories:
  • Priority One incidents (life threatening or critical situations) – 80 per cent or more of responses within 10 minutes (76.6 per cent achieved in 2021-22)
  • Priority Two incidents (situations where the information provided indicates that time is important but not critical) – 80 per cent within 20 minutes (70.6 per cent achieved in 2021-22)
  • Priority Three incidents (situations where there is no immediate danger to safety or property, but police attendance or response is needed no later than 48 hours from the initial contact by the complainant or a time agreed with the complainant) – 90 per cent within 48 hours (94.0 per cent achieved in 2021-22) (ACT Policing 2022).

‘Workforce representation’ is an indicator of governments’ objective to provide police services in an equitable manner.

‘Workforce representation’ is defined by two measures:

• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander staff — the proportion of police staff (operational and non‑operational) that are Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people compared with the proportion of the population aged 20–64 years who are Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander.
• Female staff — the proportion of police staff (operational and non-operational) who are female compared with the proportion of the population aged 20–64 years who are female.

Information on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander status is generally collected at recruitment and relates to staff who self-identify as being of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander descent.

Similar proportions of police who are Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people or who are female compared to the population is desirable.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people might feel more comfortable when in contact with police services if they are able to liaise with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander staff. Similarly, women might feel more comfortable when in contact with police services if they are able to liaise with female police staff (particularly in situations involving family violence and sex offences). Workforce representation can also bring about positive cultural change.

Nationally in 2021-22, 2.3 per cent of police staff (operational and non-operational) identified as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (up from 1.7 per cent in 2012-13) (figure 6.2). Nationally, and in all jurisdictions except NSW and the ACT, the proportion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander police staff was lower than the proportion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the population (figure 6.2).

Nationally in 2021-22, 34.5 per cent of police staff (operational and non-operational) were female, slightly lower than in 2020-21 (35.0 per cent), but higher than 10 years ago (32.2 per cent in 2012-13) (figure 6.3). In all jurisdictions across the 10 year time series, the proportion of female police staff was lower than the proportion of females in the population (table 6A.2).

Nationally in 2021-22, 27.3 per cent of operational sworn police staff were female (proportions varied across jurisdictions from 22.3 to 33.8 per cent) (table 6A.2).

‘Road safety’ is an indicator of governments’ objective to promote safer behaviour on roads.

‘Road safety’ is defined by three measures:

• use of seatbelts — the proportion of people who had driven in the past 6 months and who reported that they had driven without wearing a seatbelt
• driving under the influence — the proportion of people who had driven in the past 6 months and who reported that they had driven when possibly over the alcohol limit
• degree of speeding — the proportion of people who had driven in the past 6 months and who reported that they had driven 10 kilometres per hour or more above the speed limit.

The road safety data are from the National Survey of Community Satisfaction with Policing. It is an annual survey commissioned by all Australian State and Territory Police. The data are self-reported by participants and the survey samples people aged 18 years or over. (Until October 2015, it sampled people aged 15 years or over.)

A low or decreasing proportion of people who stated that they had driven without wearing a seatbelt, driven when possibly over the alcohol limit and/or driven 10 kilometres per hour or more above the speed limit is desirable.

The use of seatbelts, driving under the influence of alcohol and speeding are affected by a number of factors in addition to police activities, such as driver education and media campaigns.

Nationally in 2021-22, of those people who had driven in the past six months:

• 4.5 per cent reported driving without wearing a seat belt, down from 10 years ago (5.4 per cent in 2012-13)
• 6.0 per cent reported driving when possibly over the blood alcohol limit, down from 10 years ago (7.8 per cent in 2012-13)
• 59.2 per cent reported travelling 10 kilometres per hour or more above the speed limit, up from 10 years ago (55.6 per cent in 2012-13) (figure 6.4).

‘Deaths in police custody’ is an indicator of governments’ objective to provide safe custodial services.

‘Deaths in police custody’ is defined as deaths in police custody and custody-related operations, by Indigenous status.

These deaths are divided into two main categories:

• Category 1: deaths in institutional settings (for example, police stations or lockups, police vehicles, during transfer from an institution), and other deaths in police operations where officers were in close contact with the deceased (for example, most raids and shootings by police).
• Category 2: deaths during custody‑related operations — where officers did not have such close contact with the person to be able to significantly influence or control the person’s behaviour (for example, most sieges), and most cases where officers were attempting to detain a person (for example, a pursuit).

Zero or a decreasing number of deaths in custody and custody‑related operations is desirable.

Nationally in 2021-22, there were 22 deaths in police custody, 8 of which involved Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. The number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander deaths in 2021-22 is the equal highest number in any year since 2007-08 (table 6.1). These numbers are an increase on deaths in police custody in 2020-21 (17 deaths in total, 4 of which involved Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people).

The total number of deaths in police custody is lower in 2021-22 than in 2007-08 due to a decrease in non‑Indigenous deaths (29 out of 34 deaths in 2007‑08).

‘Magistrates’ court decisions resulting in a guilty outcome for defendants’ is an indicator of governments’ objective of supporting the judicial process to bring to justice those people responsible for committing an offence.

‘Magistrates’ court decisions resulting in a guilty outcome for defendants’ is defined as the proportion of Magistrates’ court decisions where the defendant pled guilty, was found guilty by the court or was found guilty ex‑parte (that is, a finding of guilt in the defendant's absence). The defendant is a person or organisation against whom one or more criminal charges have been laid.

A high or increasing proportion of Magistrates’ court decisions where the outcome for the defendant is guilty is desirable. This can indicate police were effective in gathering evidence and only bringing to court charges with sufficient evidence to ensure a guilty outcome.

This indicator does not provide information on the number of cases where police have identified a likely offender but choose not to bring the likely offender to court due to several factors.

Nationally, the proportion of Magistrates’ court decisions resulting in a guilty outcome for defendants was 97.2 per cent in 2021-22 (figure 6.5).

‘Satisfaction with police services’ is an indicator of governments’ objective of providing services that are accessible and responsive to community needs, including disasters and emergencies.

‘Satisfaction with police services’ is defined by three measures: the proportion of people who were ‘satisfied’ or ‘very satisfied’ with police services:

• in general (whether or not they had contact with police services)
• in their most recent contact
• in response to emergencies and disasters.

Satisfaction with police services data are from the National Survey of Community Satisfaction with Policing. It is an annual survey commissioned by all Australian State and Territory Police. The data are self-reported by participants and the survey samples people aged 18 years or over. (Until October 2015, it sampled people aged 15 years or over.)

A high or increasing proportion of people who were ‘satisfied’ or ‘very satisfied’ is desirable.

Nationally in 2021-22:

• 76.8 per cent of surveyed adults reported they were ‘satisfied’ or ‘very satisfied’ in general with the services provided by police, a decrease from a 10 year high of 80.7 per cent in 2020-21
• 77.7 per cent of surveyed adults who had contact with police in the previous 12 months reported they were ‘satisfied’ or ‘very satisfied’ with their most recent contact, a ten year low compared to a high of 86.8 per cent in 2014-15
• 79.0 per cent of surveyed adults who had contact with police in response to emergencies and disasters reported they were ‘satisfied’ or ‘very satisfied’ with police service responses, a six year low compared to a high of 83.0 per cent in 2020-21 (figure 6.6).

‘Perceptions of police integrity’ is an indicator of governments’ objective to provide services with integrity, honesty and fairness.

‘Perceptions of police integrity’ refers to public perceptions and is defined by three measures – the proportion of people who ‘agreed’ or ‘strongly agreed’ that police:

• treat people fairly and equally
• perform their job professionally
• are honest.

Perceptions of police integrity data are from the National Survey of Community Satisfaction with Policing. It is an annual survey commissioned by all Australian State and Territory Police. The data are self-reported by participants and the survey samples people aged 18 years or over. (Until October 2015, it sampled people aged 15 years or over.)

A high or increasing proportion of people who ‘agreed’ or ‘strongly agreed’ with these statements is desirable.

Public perceptions might not reflect actual levels of police integrity, because many factors, including hearsay and media reporting, might influence people’s perceptions of police integrity.

Nationally in 2021-22, the proportion of people who ‘agreed’ or ‘strongly agreed’ that police:

• ‘treat people fairly and equally’ was 66.3 per cent, a ten year low compared to a high of 77.7 per cent in 2014-15
• ‘perform their job professionally’ was 82.0 per cent, a ten year low compared to a high of 88.7 per cent in 2014-15
• ‘are honest’ was 68.6 per cent, a ten year low compared to a high of 75.9 per cent in 2014-15 (figure 6.7).

‘Complaints’ is an indicator of governments’ objective to provide services with integrity, honesty and fairness.

‘Complaints’ is defined as the rate of complaints against police by the public per 100 000 people in the population. It is expressed as an index comparing values over time to a base period allocated a value of 100.

Complaints includes statements (written or verbal) by members of the public regarding police conduct when a person was in police custody or had voluntary or involuntary dealing with the police. They include sustained complaints, withdrawn complaints, dismissed complaints, and unresolved complaints, whether they are handled internally to the police service or by an external agency.

A low or decreasing index score is desirable.

A high or increasing index score does not necessarily indicate a lack of confidence in police. It can indicate greater confidence in complaints resolution. It is desirable to monitor changes in the index score to identify reasons for the changes and use this information to improve the manner in which police services are delivered.

Complaints increased in 2021-22 relative to the indexed baseline (2012-13 to 2014-15) in all jurisdictions, except Queensland and the ACT (figure 6.8).

‘Youth diversions’ is an indicator of governments’ objective to support the judicial process to bring to justice those people responsible for committing an offence.

‘Youth diversions’ is defined as the proportion of police proceedings for alleged youth offenders that were diverted by police using a non‑court proceeding.

The measure is reported by Indigenous status.

When police apprehend offenders, they can charge the offender (and proceed to court), or they can use their discretion to divert the offender away from this potentially costly, time consuming and stressful situation (for both the offender and victim).

Alleged youth offenders are aged 10 to 17 years at the date of proceeding. A proceeding is a legal action initiated against an alleged offender for an offence (or offences). Police proceedings represent a count for each separate occasion on which police initiate a legal action against an offender during the reference period. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander status is identified at the time of the proceeding by police.

Diversions include non‑court actions such as community conferences, diversionary conferences, formal (written) cautioning by police, family conferences, and other programs (for example, drug assessment/treatment). Non‑court actions that are initiated against offenders who would not normally be sent to court for the offence detected, and who are treated by police in a less formal manner (for example, issued informal (oral) cautions, informal warnings or infringement/penalty notices), are not included.

A high or increasing number of youth diversions, as a proportion of youth offenders is desirable. Not all diversionary options are available or subject to police discretion in all jurisdictions. In addition, young offenders who commit a serious offence or an offence specified in applicable legislation cannot be diverted. This limits opportunities for youth diversion. This indicator does not provide information on the relative success or failure of diversionary mechanisms.

In 2021-22, two jurisdictions (Victoria and the NT) reported an increase from 2020-21 in the proportion of young offenders diverted from the justice system, and three jurisdictions (Victoria, the ACT and the NT) reported an increase in the proportion of young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander offenders diverted from the justice system. In all jurisdictions in 2021-22, a higher proportion of non-Indigenous youth offenders were diverted than Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander offenders (table 6.2).

‘Outcome of investigations’ is an indicator of governments’ objective to support the judicial process to bring to justice people responsible for committing an offence.

‘Outcome of investigations’ is defined by two measures of the status of a police investigation after 30 days from the recording of the incident by police:

• the proportion of all investigations that were finalised
• the proportion of all finalised investigations where an offender was proceeded against.

Measures are reported for a range of offences:

• personal offences: homicide and related offences; sexual assault; armed robbery; and unarmed robbery
• property offences: unlawful entry with intent; motor vehicle theft; and other theft.

A high or increasing proportion of investigations that were finalised and investigations finalised where proceedings were instituted against the offender, is desirable.

The proportion of investigations finalised within 30 days of the offence becoming known to police varied across jurisdictions for a range of personal and property offences. Nationally in 2021:

• sexual assaults recorded the lowest proportion of personal crimes with investigations finalised within 30 days (34.0 per cent)
• unlawful entry recorded the lowest proportion of property offences with investigations finalised within 30 days (16.8 per cent) (figure 6.9a).

The proportion of finalised investigations for which proceedings had begun against the offender within 30 days of the offence becoming known to police, varied across jurisdictions for a range of personal and property offences. Nationally in 2021, of finalised investigations:

• homicide and other related offences were the most likely personal offences to have an offender proceeded against within 30 days (94.5 per cent)
• unlawful entry with intent was the most likely property offence to have an offender proceeded against within 30 days (85.5 per cent) (figure 6.9b).

‘Expenditure per person’ is a proxy indicator of governments’ objective to provide police services in an efficient manner.

‘Expenditure per person’ is defined as real recurrent expenditure on policing per person in the population. All else being equal, low or decreasing expenditure per person is desirable. However, efficiency data should be interpreted with care. High or increasing expenditure per person might reflect poor efficiency but may also reflect changing aspects of the service or policing environment. Low expenditure per person may reflect more efficient outcomes or lower quality or less challenging crime and safety situations. The scope of activities undertaken by police services also varies across jurisdictions.

Real recurrent expenditure includes user cost of capital, less revenue from own sources and payroll tax.

Time series data for real recurrent expenditure and capital costs (including associated costs for the user cost of capital) for each jurisdiction are reported in table 6A.1. Information on treatment of assets by police agencies is presented in the Explanatory material.

Nationally in 2021-22, real recurrent expenditure on policing was $575 per person in the population. This figure has increased in real terms each year since 2016-17. Expenditure per person ranged from $453 to $649 across all jurisdictions, except the NT where it was $1681 per person (figure 6.10).

‘Crime victimisation’ is an indicator of governments’ objective to contribute to a safe and secure community that enables people to undertake their lawful pursuits confidently and safely.

‘Crime victimisation’ is defined as the victimisation rate of selected personal and property crimes.

Data are reported for:

• personal crimes of physical assault, face‑to‑face threatened assault and robbery per 100 000 people aged 15 years or over; and for sexual assault, per 100 000 people aged 18 years or over
• property crimes of break‑in, attempted break‑in, motor vehicle theft, theft from a motor vehicle, malicious property damage and other theft, per 100 000 households.

A victim is a person (for personal crimes) or household (for property crimes) who has self‑reported as experiencing at least one incident in the last 12 months.

A low or decreasing rate of crime victimisation is desirable.

Nationally in 2021-22, there were an estimated 1893.1 victims of physical assault, 2167.2 victims of threatened assault (face-to-face incidents only), 484.1 victims of sexual assault and 265.8 victims of robbery per 100 000 people (figure 6.11a).

Crime victimisation survey reporting rates for these crimes are available in table 6A.14. The rates of victims of recorded crime per 100 000 people for selected personal offences are available in table 6A.16.

Data on reported victims of sexual assault by age at incident are available in table 6A.18. In 2021, 60.8 per cent of recorded victims of sexual assault were a child (under 18 years of age) at the time of the incident.

As some offences reported in any given year might relate to historical offences, data are also provided on victims who were a child at the time of the incident and where the incident occurred within one year of the date of report. Nationally in 2021, there were 11 293 reported victims of child sexual assault where the incident occurred within one year of the date of report. In comparison, there were 18 925 child victims of sexual assault who reported a sexual assault (recent or historical) to police in 2021.

Nationally, for every 100 000 households in 2021-22, an estimated 1965.0 experienced a break-in, 1956.9 an attempted break-in, 560.9 motor vehicle theft, 2354.8 theft from a motor vehicle, 3790.3 malicious property damage and 1961.0 experienced other theft (figure 6.11b).

Crime victimisation survey reporting rates for these crimes are available in table 6A.15. The rates of victims of recorded crime per 100 000 people for selected property offences are available in table 6A.17.

‘Perceptions of safety’ is an indicator of governments’ objective to contribute to a safe and secure community that enables people to undertake their lawful pursuits confidently and safely.

‘Perceptions of safety’ is defined by two measures – the proportion of people who felt ‘safe’ or ‘very safe’:

• at home alone during the night
• in public places, including walking alone in the neighbourhood during the day and night and travelling on public transport during the night.

Perceptions of safety data are from the National Survey of Community Satisfaction with Policing. It is an annual survey commissioned by all Australian State and Territory Police. The data are self-reported by participants and the survey samples people aged 18 years or over. (Until October 2015, it sampled people aged 15 years or over.)

A high or increasing proportion of people who felt ‘safe’ or ‘very safe’ is desirable.

Nationally in 2021-22, 89.0 per cent of people felt ‘safe’ or ‘very safe’ at home alone during the night. This proportion dropped to 53.8 per cent when walking locally during the night and dropped further to 32.7 per cent when travelling on public transport during the night (figure 6.12).

‘Perceptions of crime problems’ is an indicator of governments’ objective to contribute to a safe and secure community that enables people to undertake their lawful pursuits confidently and safely.

‘Perceptions of crime problems’ is defined as the proportion of people who thought that various types of crime were a ‘major problem’ or ‘somewhat of a problem’ in their neighbourhood.

This indicator measures perceptions of crime, as distinct from the actual level of crime (recorded crime data are available in 6A.16 and 6A.17). Perceptions of crime data are sourced from the National Survey of Community Satisfaction with Policing. It is an annual survey commissioned by all Australian State and Territory Police. Data are self-reported by participants and the survey samples people aged 18 years or over. (Until October 2015, it sampled people aged 15 years or over.)

A low or decreasing proportion of people who thought the selected types of crime were a ‘major problem’ or ‘somewhat of a problem’ in their neighbourhood is desirable.

Nationally in 2021-22, 45.5 per cent of surveyed adults reported illicit drugs to be either a ‘major problem’ or ‘somewhat of a problem’ in their neighbourhood. This is the lowest proportion since 2014-15 (38.6 per cent). Also, 64.9 per cent of surveyed adults thought speeding cars, dangerous or noisy driving to be a problem, a decrease from 66.4 per cent in 2020-21 (figure 6.13).

‘Road deaths’ is an indicator of governments’ objective to contribute to a safe and secure community that enables people to undertake their lawful pursuits confidently and safely.

‘Road deaths’ is defined as the rate of road deaths per 100 000 registered vehicles.

The Australian Road Deaths Database provides basic details of road transport deaths in Australia as reported by the police each month to state and territory road safety authorities.

No deaths or a decreasing rate of road deaths per 100 000 registered vehicles is desirable.

The rate of road deaths is affected by a number of factors in addition to activities undertaken by police services, such as the condition of roads, driver education and media campaigns.

Nationally in 2021-22, there were 5.7 road deaths per 100 000 registered vehicles. This is down from a rate of 7.4 road deaths 10 years ago (2012-13) (figure 6.14). The 2021-22 rate reflects 1180 road deaths nationally (table 6A.21).

Supporting data on traffic accident hospitalisations are available in table 6A.22. The rate of traffic accident hospitalisations per 100 000 registered vehicles was higher in 2020-21 than the six year low in 2019-20. The number of traffic accident hospitalisations was higher in 2020-21 than in any of the previous six years (table 6A.22).

a Depreciated replacement cost; current value; market value (current (net) value, market selling price or exchange value); and deprival value may be either the depreciated replacement cost of an asset of a similar service potential or the stream of its future economic benefits. b Estimated as (1/depreciation rate). c ACT asset lives for some assets have been grouped with other classifications. d WA IT equipment includes communication equipment. e NSW office equipment includes computer software, furniture and fittings, firearms and musical instruments. f Includes all transport equipment. However, marine equipment is amortised over 20 years and livestock over 8 years. Leased vehicles, including aircraft and vessels are amortised over the lease term. – Nil or rounded to zero. na Not available.

Source: State and Territory governments (unpublished).