KEY FINDINGS

This publication presents statistics about victims of selected offences that were recorded by police between January 1 and December 31 2017. This is the eighth annual release of the current time series which covers the 2010 to 2017 reference periods.


NUMBER OF SEXUAL ASSAULT VICTIMS RECORDED REACHES EIGHT YEAR HIGH

The number of Sexual assault victims recorded by police increased by 8% across Australia, from 23,040 victims in 2016 to 24,957 victims in 2017. This was the highest number recorded since the beginning of the time series in 2010, and it is the sixth consecutive year the number of Sexual assault victims has increased.

The victimisation rate has increased from 86 victims of Sexual assault per 100,000 persons in 2010 to 102 victims of Sexual assault per 100,000 persons in 2017. (Table 1)



The number of Sexual assault victims increased in the majority of states and territories, with the highest increases in Victoria (13% or 670 victims), New South Wales (12% or 1,052 victims) and Queensland (9% or 402 victims).

There were decreases recorded in the number of Sexual assault victims in Western Australia (down 12% or 258 victims), Tasmania (down 10% or 22 victims) and the Australian Capital Territory (down 9% or 23 victims). (Table 6)

Sexual assault victims were commonly:

• Female (82%)
• Aged between 15 and 19 years at the time the offence was reported to police (25%)
• Victimised in a private dwelling (60%). (Tables 7, 8 and 9)

There were 8,409 victims of Family and Domestic Violence (FDV)-related Sexual assault recorded by police in 2017, which accounted for a third (34%) of all victims of Sexual assault recorded nationally over the same period.

From the previous year, there was an increase of 3% in the number of victims of FDV-related Sexual assault (212 victims). That said, the victimisation rate remained stable at 34 victims per 100,000 persons over the same period.

The majority (86%) of victims of FDV-related Sexual assault were female. (Tables 1 and 22)

LOWEST NUMBER OF BURGLARIES SINCE 2010

In 2017, there were 176,153 victims of Unlawful entry with intent, which represented a 7% or 12,604 victims decrease from the previous year. This was the lowest number recorded since the beginning of the time series in 2010. (Table 1)

Decreases in Unlawful entry with intent between 2016 and 2017 occurred across a number of jurisdictions, most notably:

• Victoria (down 16% or 8,266 victims)
• South Australia (down 14% or 1,923 victims)
• Western Australia (down 9% or 3,385 victims)
• New South Wales (down 7% or 2,983 victims)

In 2017, there were fewer victims of Unlawful entry with intent where property was taken (115,809 victims) compared to the previous year (125,900 victims).

Tasmania had the highest proportion of property being taken (77% or 2,537 victims) while the Northern Territory had the lowest (48% or 2,005 victims). (Tables 1 and 6)

Approximately three-quarters (72%) of break-ins occurred in a residential location (127,559 victims). (Table 3)


DECREASES IN MURDER AND ATTEMPTED MURDER

Across Australia in 2017, there were 203 victims of Murder and 167 victims of Attempted murder recorded by police. The number of victims for each offence decreased from 2016, Murder by 11% (24 victims) and Attempted murder by 15% (30 victims). (Table 1)

The national decrease in Murder was driven by decreases in New South Wales (down 16 victims) and Western Australia (down 7 victims).

The main contributors to the decrease in victims of Attempted murder were Queensland (28 victims), Western Australia (13 victims) and New South Wales (12 victims). In contrast, victims of Attempted murder in Victoria increased by 21 victims. (Table 6)



The majority (70%) of victims of Murder were male (141 victims). Less than a third of Murder victims in 2017 were female (30% or 61 victims), this was the lowest number recorded since the beginning of the time series in 2010. (Table 7)

In 2017, 37% of Murders recorded nationally were FDV-related (75 victims), and a quarter (25%) of all Attempted murders were FDV-related (41 victims). Females comprised over half (57%) of all victims of FDV-related Murders (43 victims). (Tables 1 and 22)