As many as 95 per cent of First Nations people who appear in court charged with a criminal offence have an intellectual disability, cognitive impairment or a mental illness.
The estimate comes from The Australian Centre of Disability Law and is one of a number of concerning statistics highlighting an over-representation of people with a disability in the justice system.
Several legal and advocacy bodies have responded to the Disability Royal Commission's paper on criminal justice issues.
Several cited the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare's 2018 findings that people with disability form 29 per cent of the prison population, despite being 18 per cent of the general population.
The Law Council of Australia said that behaviour associated with a person's impairment can be interpreted as difficult or defiant, leading to disproportionate interactions with police.
Some responses called for better support for offenders when exiting the prison system to prevent abuse in detention settings, as well as to assist with rehabilitation in the community.
People with disability are also over-represented as victims of crime.
WWILD Sexual Violence Prevention Association told the royal commission that people with cognitive disabilities suffer 'extremely high' rates of sexual violence.
Responses also noted challenges in reporting violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation.
These include support workers acting as gatekeepers for the reporting of complaints to perceptions held by police that people with disabilities do not make credible witnesses.
