4509.1 - Crime and Safety, New South Wales, Apr 2001  
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 19/12/2001   
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INTRODUCTION

1 This publication contains results from a survey on crime and safety which was conducted throughout NSW in April 2001 as a supplement to the ABS Monthly Population Survey (MPS). The survey was conducted and funded at the request of the NSW Police Service and the NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research.

2 Information was collected from individuals and households about their experience of selected crimes, reporting behaviour and individuals' perception of crime problems in their neighbourhood.

3 The MPS was conducted during the two weeks commencing Monday, 9 April 2001.

4 Information was sought from approximately 12,663 persons, of whom about 9,201 (73%) responded. Approximately 6,103 households were surveyed from which complete household data was obtained from 4,502 (74%) of these.

5 Examination of successive waves of responses did not indicate any significant non-response bias. Estimation and imputation procedures were employed to reduce the effect of non-response.


SCOPE

6 The survey was conducted for all persons aged 15 and over who were usual residents of private dwellings, except:

  • members of the permanent defence forces;
  • certain diplomatic personnel of overseas governments, customarily excluded from censuses and surveys;
  • overseas residents in Australia;
  • members of non-Australian defence forces (and their dependants) stationed in Australia;
  • persons living in sparsely settled areas of the state; and
  • private dwellings containing visitors only.

7 Residents of other non-private dwellings such as hospitals, motels and prisons were excluded from this survey.


COVERAGE

8 Coverage rules were applied to ensure that each person was associated with only one dwelling, and hence had only one chance of selection in the survey.

9 Crime and safety questionnaires were either delivered to the selected households by ABS interviewers or, in the majority of cases, mailed out to households who were interviewed for the MPS over the telephone. The questionnaires were completed by household members and returned to the ABS by mail. Each household received:
  • one questionnaire containing questions relating to the household as a whole;
  • a questionnaire for each person aged 15 or over relating to their personal experiences of crime; and
  • a questionnaire for each female aged 18 or over relating to their personal experiences of sexual assault only.


COMPARSION WITH POLICE STATISTICS

10 Responses obtained in this survey are based on the respondent's perception of their having been the victim of an offence. The terms used summarise the wording of the questions asked of the respondent, and may not necessarily correspond with the legal or police definitions which are used for each offence.


BREAK IN TIME SERIES

11 Additional questions about robbery incidents were included in the 1999, 2000 and 2001 NSW Crime and Safety Surveys. This has made it possible to collect robbery data that aligns with data collected from the 1998 National Crime and Safety Survey. This change has caused a break in the time series for robbery estimates published from the NSW Crime and Safety Surveys conducted in 1997 and earlier years. The definition of robbery for the statistics included in this publication can be found in the Glossary. Comparison with results from the 1998 National Crime and Safety Survey for other offences is not recommended. Differences in question wording and processing procedures mean that survey estimates are not directly comparable.


RELATED PUBLICATIONS

12 The ABS produces a wide range of publications containing social and demographic statistics. Other ABS publications which relate to this survey topic include:

Australian Standard Offence Classification, 1997 (Cat. no. 1234.0)
Crime and Safety, New South Wales, April 2000 (Cat. no. 4509.1)
Crime and Safety, Australia, April 1998 (Cat. no. 4509.0)
Crime and Safety, South Australia, October 2000 (Cat. no. 4509.4)
Crime and Safety, Victoria, April 1995 (Cat. no. 4509.2)
Crime and Safety, Queensland, April 1995 (Cat. no. 4509.3)
Crime and Safety, Western Australia, October 1999 (Cat. no. 4509.5)
Recorded Crime, Australia, 2000 (Cat. no. 4510.0)