The average number of reconvictions per offender, a measure of how often offenders are reconvicted, increased by eight per cent in the same period from 0.41 to 0.44.

From the people who have offended in 2021-22, 34 per cent did so for the first time in at least 10 years, up from 31 per cent from the previous year.

As in previous years, males are reconvicted more often, on average, than females. In 2020-21, the average number of reconvictions per offender for males was 0.45, which was 12 per cent higher than the value of 0.39 for females.

As in previous years, offenders who committed a crime of dishonesty had the highest reconviction rate (40.7 per cent in 2020-21), compared to offenders that committed another type of crime. Offenders who committed a sexual crime had the lowest (8.8 per cent in 2020-21). The type of crime committed is one of a range of factors associated with the likelihood of being reconvicted, including the sentence received, offending history, and characteristics of individual offenders.

In 2020-21, 5.4 per cent of offenders with an index domestic abuse crime or offence were reconvicted for a further domestic abuse crime or offence, and 17 per cent were reconvicted for any type of crime or offence.

Offenders released from a custodial sentence had an average number of reconvictions per offender of 0.66 in 2020-21, which was five per cent lower than 0.70 in 2019-20. Of those convicted in 2021-22 with a custodial sentence, 70.0 per cent had at least one previous custodial sentence in the past 10 years, with 35.7 per cent having between 3 to 10 and 12.9 per cent having over 10.

Community payback orders (CPOs) are the most commonly used community sentence. The reconviction rate was 27.9 per cent in 2020-21, an increase from 25.4 per cent in 2019-20. Of those convicted in 2021-22 with a community sentence, 49.5 per cent had at least one previous community sentence in the past 10 years, with 18.6 per cent having between 3 to 10 and 0.8 per cent having over 10. The cohort size for CPOs had a large decrease from the previous year, down by nearly half.

Sixteen per cent of individuals given a non-court disposal by the police in 2020-21 (such as a warning or fine) received another non-court disposal within a year.