SUMMARY OF FINDINGS


HOUSEHOLD CRIME

A total of 190,300 households (7.0% of all households in NSW) were victims of household crime in the 12 months to April 2008, which was similar to the 2007, 2006, and 2004 victimisation rates (6.5%, 6.8% and 7.4% respectively).

The victimisation rates for break and enter (3.8%) and attempted break and enter (3.4%) also remained similar to their corresponding 2007, 2006 and 2004 rates. The victimisation rate for motor vehicle theft (0.7%) was lower than the 2004 rate (1.2%) but not significantly different from the 2007 or 2006 rates (0.9% and 1.0% respectively).

As in 2007, the household victimisation rate for Sydney in 2008 (7.2%) was about the same as for the balance of NSW (6.8%).

In 2008, there was no significant difference between household victimisation rates for different household types.


PERSONAL CRIME

There were 232,400 usual residents aged 15 years and over in NSW who were victims of personal crime in the 12 months to April 2008, a victimisation rate of 4.2%. This does not significantly differ from 2007, 2006 or 2004 (5.0%, 4.2% and 4.5% respectively).

Assault was the only type of personal crime to show a statistically significant change from 2007. The victimisation rate for assault was 3.6% in 2008, a decrease from 4.4% in 2007. However, the victimisation rate in 2008 was not significantly different from 2006 or 2004 victimisation rates (3.5% and 3.8%, respectively).

The victimisation rate for robbery in 2008 (0.7%) was unchanged from the 2007, 2006 and 2004 figures (0.6%, 0.7% and 0.7%, respectively).

The victimisation rate for sexual assault in 2008 (0.7%) was not significantly different from the 2007 or 2004 rates (0.5% and 0.4%), but was greater than the 2006 rate (0.2%). Sexual assault rates between 2004, 2006 and 2007 did not significantly differ.

As with household crime, the personal crime victimisation rate for Sydney (4.0%) was similar to that for the balance of NSW (4.6%). However, the victimisation rate for Sydney in 2008 (4.0%) had decreased from the 2007 figure (4.9%). The rate for the balance of NSW in 2008 (4.6%) was similar to the 2007 figure (5.2%).

Persons not in the labour force had a lower victimisation rate (2.9%) than both employed persons (4.8%) and unemployed persons (7.9%). The apparent difference between victimisation rates for employed persons and unemployed persons was not statistically significant.

Overall, males were more likely to have been victims of personal crime than females. There were 137,100 male victims, a victimisation rate of 5.0%, and 95,300 female victims, a victimisation rate of 3.4%. The differences between the victimisation rates for males and females were significant for 15-24 year olds. The differences between the sexes for all other age groupings were not statistically significant.

Victimisation rates showed a general decline with increasing age. However, the only adjacent age groups with a significant difference was the 35-44 year olds and 45-54 year olds.

Of the 196,800 victims of assault, about half (47%) knew their offender in the most recent assault. Of the victims who knew their offender, around one in five (22%) stated that the offender was a family member.

Around two thirds (67%) of assaults occurred in the street or other open land, at the victim's place of work or study, or at the victim's home.


MULTIPLE VICTIMS

Of those households which were victims of household crime, 30% experienced more than one incident in the 12 months to April 2008. For individual household offence types, attempted break and enter had a higher proportion of victims who experienced more than one incident (37%), than break and enter (17%).

Of those persons who were victims of personal crime, 49% experienced more than one incident in the 12 months to April 2008. The proportion of victims who experienced more than one incident was higher for victims of assault at 50%, compared to 26% for victims of robbery.


REPORTING TO POLICE

The reporting of incidents to the police varied according to the type of offence. For household crime, the proportion of victims reporting the most recent incident to the police was higher for break and enter (60%) than attempted break and enter (13%).

The reporting rate for attempted break and enter in 2008 was a decrease from the 34% who reported attempted break and enter in 2007. The reporting rate for break and enter did not significantly differ from the 2007 figure.

The reporting rate for assault (31%) was similar to the reporting rate for robbery (38%). There were no significant differences in reporting rates for any individual person offence types compared to 2007.


PERCEPTION OF CRIME/PUBLIC NUISANCE

In 2008, an estimated 55% of persons did not think there were any crime or public nuisance problems in their neighbourhood. This was similar to the 2007 figure (53%).

Between 1999 and 2008, the percentage of persons who did not perceive any problems from crime or public nuisance in their neighbourhoods has risen from 47% to 55%.

The most commonly identified problems were vandalism/graffiti/damage to property (26%) and dangerous/noisy driving (25%), followed by housebreaking/burglaries/theft from homes (21%), louts/youth gangs (20%) and drunkenness (20%).