Crime and Safety Survey

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    Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS)

    OVERVIEW

    Survey of residents of private dwellings throughout Australia seeking information about selected household and personal crime and safety issues. Conducted as a supplement to the monthly labour force survey. Previous national surveys were conducted in 1975, 1983, 1993 and 1998. On each occasion the collection methodology has been different but similar data items have been collected.

    PURPOSE

    To obtain information on the perception of crime problems in the neighbourhood, fear of crime, the incidence of selected categories of crime and reporting behaviour. Persons aged 18 and over will be asked to provide information on sexual assault on a separate questionnaire, and they will be advised that there is no obligation to participate in this part of the survey.

    SCOPE
    This survey is conducted as part of the Monthly Population Survey, which comprises the Labour Force Survey and, in most months, a supplementary survey topic.

    SCOPE - Labour Force Survey

    The Labour Force Survey includes all persons aged 15 and over except:

    • members of the permanent defence forces;
    • certain diplomatic personnel of overseas governments, customarily excluded from census and estimated populations;
    • overseas residents in Australia; and
    • members of non-Australian defence forces (and their dependants) stationed in Australia.

    From July 1993 Jervis Bay Territory is also excluded from the scope of the survey. Before July 1993 it was included in estimates for the Australian Capital Territory.

    From July 1997, all supplementary surveys excluded persons in remote and sparsely settled areas of Australia. The exclusion of these persons has only a minor effect on estimates for individual States or Territories.

    COVERAGE - Labour Force Survey

    In the Labour Force Survey, coverage rules are applied which aim to ensure that each person is associated with only one dwelling, and hence has only one chance of selection. The chance of a person being enumerated at two separate dwellings in the one survey is considered to be negligible.

    Persons who are away from their usual residence for six weeks or less at the time of interview are enumerated at their usual residence (relevant information may be obtained from other usual residents present at the time of the survey).

    DATA DETAIL

    Conceptual framework

    The collection will be conducted as a supplement to the ABS Monthly Population Survey (MPS).

    Main outputs
    Publication: Crime and Safety Australia, April 2002 (ABS Cat. No. 4509.0)

    Results of the National Crime and Safety Survey including tables and analysis are released in Publication format and include:

    • Respondent perception of problems / main problem from crime or people creating a public nuisance in neighbourhood
    • Fear of crime -

    -how safe or unsafe you feel at home by yourself during day/after dark

    -how safe or unsafe you feel walking or jogging alone in local area during day/after dark

    • Behaviour as a result of crime -

    -made changes to way you live because of concern about crime and safety
    • Household crime -
      • Break and enter -
    -number of incidents in the last 12 months

    -whether incident/s became known to the police

    -whether most recent incident was reported to the police

    -main reason why it was not reported to the police

    -did police complete a crime report

    -whether considers incident to be a crime

    -as a result of incident have you made any changes to home/life

      • Attempted break-in
    -number of incidents in the last 12 months

    -whether incident/s became known to the police

    -whether most recent incident was reported to the police

    -main reason why it was not reported to the police

    -did police complete a crime report

    -whether considers incident to be a crime

      • Motor vehicle theft
    -number of incidents in the last 12 months

    -whether incident/s became known to the police

    -whether most recent incident was reported to the police

    -whether considers incident to be a crime

    • Personal Crime -
      • Robbery
    -number of incidents in the last 12 months

    -whether incident/s became known to the police

    -whether most recent incident was reported to the police

    -main reason why it was not reported to the police

    -did police complete a crime report

    -whether considers incident to be a crime

    -what was stolen

    -was a weapon used

    -were you physically injured

    -did you see offender/s

    -whether offender/s were known to the victim

    -how many offender/s + age/sex of offender/s

    -location of incident

    -reactions to incident

    -made changes to way you live

      • Assault
    -number of incidents in the last 12 months

    -whether incident/s became known to the police

    -whether most recent incident was reported to the police

    -main reason why it was not reported to the police

    -did police complete a crime report

    -whether considers incident to be a crime

    -was a weapon used

    -were you physically injured

    -did you see offender/s

    -whether offender/s were known to the victim

    -how many offender/s + age/sex of offender/s

    -location of incident

    -day of week and time of day of incident

    -reactions to incident

    -made changes to way you live

    -sought advice/support as a result of incident

      • Sexual Assault (only for persons aged 18 years and over; in a separate, voluntary questionnaire)
    -number of incidents in the last 12 months

    -whether incident/s became known to the police

    -whether most recent incident was reported to the police

    -main reason why it was not reported to the police

    -did police complete a crime report

    -whether considers incident to be a crime

    -was a weapon used

    -were you physically injured

    -did you see offender/s

    -whether offender/s were known to the victim

    -how many offender/s + age/sex of offender/s

    -location of incident

    -reactions to incident

    -made changes to way you live

    -sought advice/support as a result of incident

    Classifications

    For the offence classifications, attempts are made to align the classifications as closely as possible with police classifications and the ABS' Australian Standard Offence Classification (ASOC). However, it should be emphasised that the responses obtained in this survey are based on respondent's perception of their having been a 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.

    Other concepts (summary)

    Not applicable

    GEOGRAPHIC DETAIL
    Australia
    New South Wales
    Victoria
    Queensland
    South Australia
    Western Australia
    Tasmania
    Northern Territory
    ACT
    Part of State Metropolitan
    Part of State Extra-Metropolitan

    Comments and/or Other Regions

    Not all data available for all areas.

    COLLECTION FREQUENCY
    Other

    Frequency comments

    First conducted nationally (except NT) in 1975 with a 12 month reference period and conducted over 3 months, March - May 1975. Repeated in 1983 (12 months reference period & conducted over 12 months, February 1983 to January 1984), 1993 (12 month reference period to April 1993) and 1998
    (12 month reference period to April 1998). Will be conducted in 2002 and proposed for 2005.

    COLLECTION HISTORY

    This topic was conducted as a national survey, in 1975, 1983, 1993 and 1998.

    DATA AVAILABILITY
    Yes

    Data availability comments

    Publication Crime & Safety, Australia (ABS Cat. No. 4509.0)


    DATE OF LAST UPDATE FOR THIS DOCUMENT
    20/02/2003 05:56 PM