Justice system support Data dictionary

Proportion of people with disability supported to communicate and participate when interacting with police and judicial officers at court

2024

2024

People aged 18 and over with disability¹ who, in the last 12 months, interacted with police and/or judges or magistrates (judicial officers), and needed support to communicate in any of these interactions

Number of respondents (weighted) who agreed they were supported to communicate with police and/or judicial officers in their interactions with them within the last 12 months²

Number of respondents (weighted) who either agreed or disagreed that they were supported to communicate with police and/or judicial officers in their interactions with them within the last 12 months²

Number of respondents (weighted) who agreed they were supported to communicate with police and/or judicial officers in their interactions with them within the last 12 months, divided by the number of respondents (weighted) who either agreed or disagreed that they were supported to communicate with police and/or judicial officers in their interactions with them within the last 12 months².

Expressed as a percentage.

100 × (Numerator ÷ Denominator)

1. For the purposes of this measure, people with disability are those who were identified to have disability based on a version of the ABS Short Disability Module, and who also self-identified as having disability. The survey questions that the measure is based on were only asked of this group of people.
2. Measure calculation is based on two questions:
   1. Respondents who reported having interacted with police in the last 12 months were asked ‘Do you agree or disagree that you received support to help you communicate with police?’
   2. Respondents who reported having interacted with judges or magistrates (judicial officers) in the last 12 months were asked ‘Do you agree or disagree that you received support to help you communicate with the judge or magistrate (judicial officers)?

   In asking about whether respondents had had any interactions with police or judicial officers in the last 12 months, respondents were instructed that interactions could include things such as random breath tests, giving witness statements, jury duty, requesting assistance or during court proceedings.

   In 2024, 14% of people with disability interacted and needed support to communicate with police and/or judicial officers.

   Respondents are considered to have agreed if they responded ‘Strongly agree’ or ‘Somewhat agree’, and are considered to have disagreed if they responded ‘Somewhat disagree’ or ‘Strongly disagree’. Respondents who skipped questions or responded ‘Not sure’ or ‘Prefer not to answer’ were excluded from the measure calculation.

   Respondents who indicated they did not require communication support were excluded from the measure calculation.

   Respondents who had interactions and needed communication support with both police and judicial officers are deemed agreed overall if they agreed they were supported in communicating with both parties, and deemed disagreed overall if they disagreed they were supported in communicating with at least one party.