In this report, the available data indicate that Indigenous people are 15 to 20 times more likely than non-Indigenous people to commit violent offences.
The main risk factors linked to violent offending by Indigenous people include alcohol misuse, illicit drug use, sex, age, childhood experience of violence and abuse, exposure to pornography, education, income, employment, housing, physical and mental health, geographic location and access to services.
However alcohol, based on existing evidence, stands out as a problem over and above structural factors such as socioeconomic disadvantage.
The report concludes by drawing attention to the need to investigate the specifics of different forms of violent offending—the relationship between victims and offenders and the location and nature of different community settings. It is not, in itself, enough to continue to document the overrepresentation of Indigenous people in the criminal justice system. This can only be properly understood if more research involves the examination of what stops and inhibits offending.
There are many Indigenous people who experience a constellation of risk factors who do not offend or refrain from offending and the report ends with a recommendation for further research into resilience and what are commonly called 'protective' factors, as part of a 'developmental prevention' approach.
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