Criminal Finalisations Dashboard
What data is available, and how can it be used to inform legal assistance service planning?
Initiated in partnership with the Aboriginal Legal Service (NSW/ACT) Ltd, the Foundation has explored the use of criminal courts statistics to define a proxy indicator of demand for criminal legal assistance in court settings.
This page presents resources in relation to the Foundation’s first version of the Criminal Finalisations Dashboard, published in 2021. For the current version of the Criminal Finalisations Dashboard, click here.
Resources from the 2021 version of the dashboard
These resources include two background research papers, a presentation video, and explanatory notes.
The dashboard uses courts data on criminal finalisations as a proxy indicator of potential demand for legal assistance in court settings. Using data from the NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research (BOCSAR) over the period 2013 to 2020, the dashboard expands on our planning tool to assist the Aboriginal Legal Service (NSW/ACT) Ltd that was developed in 2018.
- Explore counts of finalisations by level of court, by defendant’s Indigenous status and over time.
- Use the interactive map to explore potential demand for services in specific areas of interest or specific court locations.
- Use tailored groupings of court locations and view data as relevant to your needs.
- View trends over eight years at a glance.
The background research papers
The Criminal Finalisations Dashboard builds on previous work undertaken by the Foundation which explored the use of criminal courts data as a proxy indicator to estimate potential demand for legal assistance in criminal courts settings.
1. Locating legal assistance demand: Using courts data to support legal service planning for First Nations people in NSW.
In 2018, the Aboriginal Legal Service (NSW/ACT) Ltd approached the Foundation to assess the use of data to support planning for their criminal practice. By analysing and mapping counts of criminal finalisations by court locations in NSW over a five-year period, an online interactive database was created. Access the report here.
2. Using court data to support planning legal assistance services for First Nations people.
Subsequently, the Commonwealth Attorney General’s Department commissioned the Foundation to explore the possibility of expanding the model designed for NSW to the national level. We conducted a feasibility study to assess data availability across all jurisdictions and applied the model to another jurisdiction through the mapping and analysis of Queensland Courts statistics. Access the report here.