Description

The Australian Indigenous imprisonment rate is currently 16.7 times the non-Indigenous
imprisonment rate. The leading proximate cause of this over-representation is a high rate of
Indigenous arrest. In this report we develop and test a model of Indigenous arrest in which
the primary drivers of risk are substance use, stress and trauma, adverse social environment,
exposure to arrest, human/economic/social capital, and state/territory of residence. We test
the model using data from the 2014–15 National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social
Survey. The strongest risk factors are alcohol and other drug use and having a high or very high
level of psychological distress. The strongest protective factors are completing school, having
an income in the top four deciles, and having a permanent home.