he Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody (RCIADIC) recog-

nised that “…too many Aboriginal people are in custody too often”, and rec-ommended a strategy of imprisonment as the last resort to reduce the level of over-repre-sentation of Indigenous people in custody (Commonwealth of Australia, 1991). Baker (2001) concluded that reducing the rate of court appear-ances provides the greatest leverage for reducing Indigenous imprisonment rates. Obviously, one clear way of achieving lower court appearance rates and in diverting people away from court is to reduce the rate at which Indigenous people are arrested. Most previous analysis has been conducted using police and court data. However, insights into the socioeconomic forces underlying Indigenous inter-action with the justice system can only be obtained by interrogating omnibus social surveys like the Selected crime and justice issues for Indigenous families Most previous analysis has been conducted using police and court data. However, insights into the socioeconomic forces underlying Indigenous interaction with the justice system can only be obtained b