Crimes (Forensic Procedures) Act 2000 - NSW Ombudsman - NSW ...

Figure 7 shows the number of forensic procedures conducted on child suspects, by the age of the child.
Figure 07: Age of child suspects undergoing forensic procedures.
250
206
200
No. of forensic procedures
150
100
110
44
57
50
12
21
0
12 yrs
13 yrs
14 yrs
15 yrs
16 yrs
17 yrs
Age of Suspect
Source: COPS download data provided by FPIT on 15 July 2005. (n = 450).
Figure 7 shows that most forensic procedures conducted on child suspects (70 per cent) were conducted on children
aged 16 or over. 349
About half of the 27 forensic procedures conducted on child volunteers were conducted on children over 16. 350
Police conducted only slightly fewer forensic procedures on children in regional areas than they did on children in
metropolitan areas. By contrast, they conducted only about half as many forensic procedures on adults in regional
areas as they did on adults in metropolitan areas. 351
Of the forensic procedures police conducted on child suspects, 96 per cent were on boys and only four per cent
were on girls. This imbalance is slightly more pronounced than the overall figure, of 93 per cent on male suspects and
seven per cent on female suspects. 352
By contrast, 44 per cent of child volunteers were male and 56 per cent were female. This is closer to the general
population than the overall figures for forensic procedure volunteers, 81 per cent of whom were male and 19 per cent
were female. 353
5.3.3. Procedures conducted on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders
Of the procedures conducted on suspects six per cent involved people police identified as Aboriginal or Torres Strait
Islander. This was higher in some regions (14 per cent in Western Region, and eight per cent in Northern Region)
and lower in others (three per cent in Southern Region, and four per cent in the metropolitan regions). However,
the proportion of procedures conducted on Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander suspects is likely to be higher than
these figures suggest as for almost 6,000 procedures (or 61 per cent of procedures conducted on suspects) police
recorded the person’s Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander status as unknown. 354 It is of significant concern that the
Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander status was unknown for such a large proportion of suspects undergoing forensic
procedures.
NSW Ombudsman
DNA sampling and other forensic procedures conducted on suspects and volunteers under the Crimes (Forensic Procedures) Act 2000 63