New sentencing data helps communities act

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples continue to be disproportionately represented in Queensland’s criminal justice system, but new data reveals how the offences driving custodial sentences differ by gender, age, and location, empowering communities to tackle the underlying drivers.

The Queensland Sentencing Advisory Council (the Council) has released a major update to its Sentencing DataHub, now including data about custodial sentences for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples for the 2023–24 financial year.

The Council's Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Advisory Panel Chair Thelma Schwartz said the updated Sentencing DataHub reflects the need to move conversations beyond well-established overrepresentation rates to focus on root causes and solutions.

“This data is a powerful tool to help us better understand not just the overrepresentation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in prison, but the offences and localised drivers behind these outcomes,” Ms Schwartz said.

“By breaking down sentencing outcomes – offence by offence, across regions, and by gender and age group – communities, empowered by access to this evidence base, can use this data to begin targeted, evidence-based efforts to meaningfully reduce incarceration rates.”

A key finding from the latest data update reveals that contravention of a domestic violence order (CDVO) is the most common offence leading to custodial sentences for both Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, and non-Indigenous peoples in Queensland.

In 2023–24, CDVOs accounted for 1,586 custodial sentences for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people – an 8 per cent increase from 2022–23. Assaults occasioning bodily harm (1,081 sentences, up 7 per cent) and burglary (546 sentences, up 4 per cent) were the next most frequent offences resulting in incarceration.

Conversely, the largest statewide decrease was in drink or drug driving offences, where custodial sentences declined by 45 per cent.

For the first time, the Sentencing DataHub provides detailed breakdowns of female offending trends, offering crucial insights. In some southeast Queensland regions, offences such as failure to appear and stealing were notably high, particularly for women. In contrast, in Cairns, assault occasioning bodily harm and CDVOs were the leading drivers for women’s incarceration.

Ms Schwartz said that understanding specific offence trends across regions is crucial for both prevention efforts and the development of community-led responses.

“These localised insights enable place-based solutions, such as stronger preventative measures, policies to reduce DVO breaches, and culturally safe pathways to address failure to appear,” she said.

“Systemic inequalities — including poverty, homelessness, and coercive control — often determine how and why certain groups enter the justice system.

“Breaking these cycles means focusing strategies not just on the offence but on its root causes, while empowering community-led and community-designed responses.”

Further data specific to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples is available on the QSAC website.