RECORDED CRIME - VICTIMS
- In 2008, the number of victims recorded by Western Australia Police decreased from the previous year for sexual assault, robbery and assault. The recorded number of victims of homicide and related offences, as well as kidnapping/abduction, and blackmail/extortion, also decreased slightly.
- Sexual assaults recorded by police decreased by nearly 10% in 2008, the highest proportional decrease among the published offences. In total, there were almost 1,800 victims of recorded sexual assault, about 190 fewer than in 2007.
- The next highest proportional decrease related to robbery, which fell by 8% to around 1,700 recorded victims. There was also a small decrease (1.5%) in the number of assault victims (21,100) recorded by the police.
- In 2008, the number of victims recorded by police increased for motor vehicle theft, other theft and unlawful entry with intent.
- Motor vehicle theft increased by 6.5% from the previous year, with victim numbers rising to nearly 7,800. Despite this increase, the 2008 figure was still well below the number of motor vehicle theft victims recorded in 2003 (10,700), before laws relating to the fitting of immobilisers on second-hand vehicles were changed. In December 2006, 77% of all registered vehicles in Western Australia had immobilisers fitted while the national average was 54%.
- Increases were recorded for victims of other theft (3.6%) and for victims of unlawful entry with intent (0.5%).
- In 2008, the victimisation rates for Western Australia, for the following selected personal offences, were:
- Homicide and related offences: 1.8 victims per 100,000 persons, down from 2.0 in 2007
- Assault: 976.3 victims per 100,000 persons, down from 1018.0 in 2007
- Sexual assault: 83.1 victims per 100,000 persons, down from 94.5 in 2007
- Kidnapping/abduction: 1.3 victims per 100,000 persons, down from 1.7 in 2007
- Robbery: 78.4 victims per 100,000 persons, down from 87.8 in 2007
- Blackmail/extortion: 4.6 victims per 100,000 persons, down from 4.8 in 2007
The link below provides time series data (1999 to 2008) on selected offences for Western Australia from Recorded Crime - Victims, Australia, 2008 (cat. no. 4510.0).
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