The 2021-22 Productivity Commission data had the ACT with 205 police per 100,000 people - the lowest of all jurisdictions - against the national average of 281.

The Australian Federal Police Association says that while crime rates have remained static or decreased, "calls to service" have increased, as has the geographic footprint and suburban expansion, and Canberra's population.

The latest data also underpins Chief Police Officer Neil Gaughan's contention that demand for police services far exceeds supply and this needs to be "balanced up". An independent report on this issue compiled by Price Waterhouse Coopers under the request of AFP Commissioner Reece Kershaw is due out soon.

Yet the ACT government continually claims the territory has sufficient police and that the territory's small physical size and low crime rates don't warrant more resources. The government pays around $200 million a year for the service under a rolling four-year contract with the Australian Federal Police.

One of the key and most telling data points illustrating the ACT underspend on law enforcement was the recurrent expenditure on police per head of population. The ACT sits at $462.67, the lowest in the country, compared with Tasmania - with a similar sized population - at $539.55.

The Productivity Commission found that the ACT was the most expensive place to keep prisoners, with every inmate at the Alexander Maconochie Centre costing taxpayers $520.87 per day in net operating expenditure, $90 a day more than Tasmania.

The commission's findings also reveal a troubling issue with the courts, with the ACT having the lowest percentage number of magistrate court decisions resulting in a guilty outcome at 65.7 per cent of cases, compared with the national average of 97.2 per cent.

All other states and territories, bar Tasmania, recorded outcomes in the 90+ percentile.

The latest magistrate court outcomes result is the worst in the ACT's recent history and down from 96.8 per cent recorded 10 years ago.

One potential explanation could be that in the ACT it is not uncommon for an offender facing multiple charges - such as that of a Deakin man who in 2021 pleaded guilty to 234 separate charges of fraud but under a deal with the prosecution had all the charges bundled into one - could have less serious charges dropped so as to allow focus on the more serious ones.

The ACT also recorded the lowest rate of magistrate court criminal case finalisations per head of population, well below the national average.

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Public perception of ACT police integrity and professionalism climbed from 84.6 per cent to 85.5 per cent - only Western Australia was higher - and ACT officers were regarded as among the most honest of any jurisdiction.

Similarly, complaints from the public regarding ACT police conduct were at 22.3 per 100,000 people, far and away the lowest in the nation and a fall on the previous survey result.

However, total satisfaction with services provided by police in the ACT fell from 80.8 per cent in 2020-21 to 76.3 per cent in the most recent survey.

Low police staffing numbers could be one of the key reasons why the ACT's speed in resolving investigations is often slower than elsewhere.

In assessing outcomes of investigations after the first 30 days, the ACT was slower to charge offenders with crimes such as sexual assault, armed robbery, unarmed robbery and unlawful entry with intent.

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