NCJ Number
225962
Date Published
January 2008
Length
4 pages
Annotation
Motivated by a concern that offenders in remote areas were more likely to be sentenced to prison than other offenders because of a lack of community-based sentencing options, this study sought to determine whether a discrepancy in the risk of imprisonment existed between inner metropolitan areas and regional and remote areas in New South Wales (NSW).
Abstract
Results of the study indicate that the area of residence of the offender does exert an effect on the probability of imprisonment when other relevant variables are taken into account. However, contrary to expectation, offenders in remote and very remote areas, as well as in inner and outer regional areas were less likely to be given a prison sentence than offenders in inner metropolitan areas. In addition, no interaction effect was found for Indigenous status and area of residence of offender, suggesting that Indigenous offenders were treated comparably wherever they lived. Concerns were raised in the 2006 report of the New South Wales (NSW) Standing Committee on Law and Justice about the shortage of resources to service community-based sentencing options in remote areas. The report raised general concerns about equity for offenders residing in remote areas, with particular concern for Indigenous Australians. There was a fear that this could result in an increased likelihood of prison for offenders residing in remote areas and exacerbate Indigenous overrepresentation in prison. In order to assess whether a bias existed, this study examined whether a discrepancy in the risk of imprisonment remained after accounting for other relevant factors. Tables, references, and notes