KEY FINDINGS
This release presents information from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) 2014-15 national Crime Victimisation Survey, which is the seventh in the annual series.
The survey collected data, via personal interview, about people’s experiences of crime victimisation for a selected range of personal and household crimes. The survey also collected data about whether persons experiencing crime reported these incidents to police, selected characteristics of persons experiencing crime, and selected characteristics of the most recent incident they experienced.
At the national level, the results showed that:
Personal crime:
In the 12 months prior to interview in 2014-15, of the 18.7 million persons aged 15 years and over in Australia, an estimated:
- 400,400 (2.1%) experienced at least one physical assault
- 549,500 (2.9%) experienced at least one threatened assault, including face-to-face and non face-to-face threatened assaults
- 55,900 (0.3%) experienced at least one robbery.
Of the 17.8 million persons aged 18 years and over, 58,600 (0.3%) experienced at least one sexual assault.
Of those Australians who experienced assault, more than half (58%) experienced more than one incident. Of the persons who experienced face-to-face threatened assault, 57% experienced more than one incident and of those who experienced non face-to-face threatened assault, 67% experienced more than one incident.
The results from the 2014-15 survey were very similar to those from the 2013-14 survey and there was no change in the victimisation rates for personal crime. Since 2008-09, there has been a general decline in the victimisation rate for physical assault and face-to-face threatened assault. There was no clear pattern in the victimisation rates for robbery and sexual assault over the same time period.
Household crime:
In the 12 months prior to interview in 2014-15, of the 8.9 million households in Australia:
- 511,400 (5.7%) households experienced at least one incident of malicious property damage
- 254,700 (2.9%) households experienced at least one theft from a motor vehicle
- 261,400 (2.9%) households experienced at least one incident of other theft
- 242,500 (2.7%) households experienced at least one break-in to their home, garage or shed
- 180,600 (2.0%) households experienced at least one attempted break-in to their home, garage or shed
- 53,400 (0.6%) households had at least one motor vehicle stolen.
For households that experienced household crimes, the majority experienced a single incident of crime:
- 91% of households that experienced motor vehicle theft
- 85% of households that experienced theft from a motor vehicle
- 79% of households that experienced malicious property damage
- 78% of households that experienced break-in
- 78% of households that experienced other theft
- 77% of households that experienced attempted break-in.
This contrasts with selected personal crimes, where people were more likely to experience multiple incidents.
The results from the 2014-15 survey were very similar to those from the 2013-14 survey and there was no change in the victimisation rates for household crime. Since 2008-09, there has been a general decline in the victimisation rate for all household crimes (break-in, attempted break-in, motor vehicle theft, theft from a motor vehicle, malicious property damage and other theft).
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