Confidence in criminal justice system hits record low
Research shows public confidence in the criminal justice system in Australia’s largest state has fallen to its lowest level in history, likely driven by declining trust in the police.
A report from the NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics (BOCSAR) published on Tuesday found that confidence in the state’s police and courts has fallen by 2025 to its lowest point since records began in 2007.
Trust in the police experienced the biggest decline, dropping nine percentage points to 73 percent between 2019 and 2025.
There has also been a sharp decline in the number of people who believe police treat people accused of crimes fairly and with respect, according to the survey of 2000 adults in NSW.
Griffith University criminologist Kristina Murphy said Australia was in the grip of a “crisis of trust” that was affecting views of authority.
“I think if you look at the situation of COVID-19, there are a lot of stories in the media about police issuing COVID-19 tickets quite disproportionately in certain states,” he told AAP.
Between 2019 and 2025, confidence that the police are meeting the needs of victims fell 14 percentage points to 56 percent, while confidence that the police handled cases promptly fell 17 percentage points to 49 percent.
The report found that just over half of respondents were confident that state courts and police would bring criminals to justice.
BOCSAR chief executive Jackie Fitzgerald acknowledged that more tense relations with the police during the COVID-19 pandemic were a possible trigger for the loss of trust.
Other pressures he cited included increased media scrutiny and increased public debate on issues such as youth crime and domestic violence.
Ms. Fitzgerald stated that for a justice system to be effective, it must be based on the trust of the community.
“Public trust underpins the legitimacy of the criminal justice system,” he said.
“When trust declines, people may be less willing to report crime, contact the police and courts, or participate as witnesses and jurors.”
With public trust at an all-time low, Professor Murphy said it would likely take years to rebuild trust.
“You tend to see increased trust, but it’s much harder to get that change in trust to increase compared to how quickly trust can be lost,” he said.
