VICTIMS OF CRIME, AUSTRALIA

This chapter presents national statistics about incidents of victimisation for a selected range of offences that were recorded by state and territory police in the period 1 January 2015 to 31 December 2015. The statistics provide information about victim characteristics and the nature of the criminal incidents.

The data in this section are drawn from Data Cube 1 – Victims of Crime, Australia and Data Cube 5 – Victims of Homicide. Note that national data for Assault are not available, as statistics for this offence type are not published for Victoria and Queensland. See Explanatory Notes 86-87 for more information.


NATIONAL OVERVIEW

The number of victims decreased between 2014 and 2015 for the majority of person offence categories, but increased for all property crime offences. Proportionally, the largest movement was a 9% decrease in the number of victims of Robbery (down 927 victims). The largest increase was for victims of Other theft (up 5% or 23,364 victims). (Table 1)



HOMICIDE AND RELATED OFFENCES

The number of victims of Homicide in Australia decreased by 2% between 2014 and 2015, falling from 421 victims to 413. This is the fourth consecutive year that the number of Homicide victims in Australia has decreased. The victimisation rate for Homicide also fell to a six-year low of 1.7 victims per 100,000 persons. (Table 22)

Murder

There were 236 victims of Murder in Australia during 2015, compared to 243 victims in 2014. Males made up 64% of all Murder victims, with the most prevalent age groups being males aged 20-34 years (22% or 52 victims) and 35-54 years (22% or 53 victims). (Table 23)

More than three in five Murder victims (62% or 147 victims) were victimised at a residential location, particularly a private dwelling (58% or 138 victims). The next most prevalent location was at a street or footpath (16% or 38 victims). A weapon was used in two-thirds of murders (66% or 156 victims), with a knife the most common weapon (30% or 70 victims). (Table 24)

Attempted murder

There was no change in the number of Attempted murder victims, with 152 victims in both 2015 and 2014. The number of male Attempted murder victims decreased by 10%, from 101 victims in 2015 to 91 in 2014 – the lowest count for this offence since the beginning of the time series in 2010. Conversely, the number of female victims increased from 50 victims to 58. The proportion of Attempted murder victims who were female has increased every year since 2011, reaching 38% in 2015. (Table 23)

Over two-thirds of Attempted murder victims were victimised in a residential location in 2015 (68% or 103 victims). Where a weapon was used during an Attempted murder, knife was the most common weapon (26% or 39 victims) followed by firearm (20% or 30 victims) (Table 24). A weapon used against nearly two-thirds (64%) of Attempted murder victims.



SEXUAL ASSAULT

The number of Sexual assault victims rose for the fourth consecutive year to 21,380 in 2015, an increase of 3% from 2014. The victimisation rate for Sexual assault in 2015 was 90 victims per 100,000 persons. (Table 1)

Females comprised 82% of Sexual assault victims in 2015. The age groups with the highest victimisation rates for Sexual assault were females aged 15-19 years (638 victims per 100,000 persons) and females aged 10-14 years (535 victims per 100,000 persons). For males, the victimisation rate was highest for those aged 10-14 years (103 victims per 100,000 persons). The number of male Sexual assault victims increased by 3% in 2015 to 3,648 victims, making it the fourth consecutive year the number of male Sexual assault victims has increased. (Table 2)

The majority of Sexual assault incidents took place in a residential location (64% or 13,674 victims) and without a weapon (95% or 20,335 victims). Just over a third of Sexual assault victims had their cases finalised within 30 days (36% or 7,600 victims) – down from 41% in 2014. (Tables 3-5)



KIDNAPPING/ABDUCTION

The number of Kidnapping/abduction victims fell for the fourth consecutive year in 2015 to 523 victims – a 5% decrease compared to 2014. The victimisation rate fell to a six-year low of 2.2 victims per 100,000 victims. (Table 1)

The decrease was driven by an 11% fall in the number of female Kidnapping/abduction victims (down from 315 victims in 2014 to 280 in 2015). The number of male victims increased slightly over the same time period from 229 victims to 239. Persons aged 25-34 years made up nearly a quarter of all Kidnapping/abduction victims (24% or 124 victims), and persons aged 20-24 years comprised 17% (89 victims). (Table 2)

For the first time since the beginning of the time series in 2010, more Kidnapping/abductions occurred in a residential location than a community location in 2015 (47% or 246 victims, compared to 40% or 208 victims). Just under a quarter of Kidnapping/abduction victims reported a weapon being used in 2015 (23% or 120 victims), compared to 11% of victims in 2010. (Tables 3 & 4)



ROBBERY

Victims of Robbery can be either persons or organisations. Combined, there was a 9.4% decrease in Robbery victims, from 9,893 victims in 2014 to 8,966 in 2015. The number of Robbery victims has decreased every year since 2010, and has now fallen 39% in five years. The proportional decrease of 9% was the same for both Armed robbery and Unarmed robbery. (Table 1)

More than four in five Robbery victims were persons (83% or 7,399 victims), and of these, nearly three-quarters were male (73% or 5,428 victims). In 2015, the victimisation rate for person victims of Robbery was 31 victims per 100,000 persons, down from 57 victims per 100,000 persons in 2010. For Armed robbery, the victimisation rate was highest for the 20-24 year age group (36 victims per 100,000 persons), while for Unarmed robbery it was highest for those aged 15-19 years (58 victims per 100,000 persons). (Table 2)



Nearly half of all robberies took place at a community location (49% or 4,366 victims), particularly on the Street or footpath (37% or 3,332 victims). A further 26% (2,371 victims) occurred at a retail location and 20% (1,755 victims) at a recreational location. The proportion of Robbery victims being victimised at a residential location was 14% (1,282 victims) in 2015, with this proportion increasing every year since 2010. (Table 3)

A weapon was used in approximately half of robberies where a victim was recorded (49% or 4,402 victims), with a knife being the most common weapon (23% or 2,049 victims). Armed robbery investigations were more likely to be finalised within 30 days than investigations for unarmed robbery (41% compared to 36%). (Table 4 & 5)


UNLAWFUL ENTRY WITH INTENT

There was a 1% increase in victims of Unlawful entry with intent in Australia, from 181,892 in 2014 to 184,529 in 2015. Just over two-thirds of these victims had property taken (67% or 123,530 victims). (Table 1)



The most common location in which Unlawful entry with intent occurred in 2015 was a residential location (71% or 131,042 victims). The next most common location was retail (11% or 20,160 victims). The majority of Unlawful entry with intent investigations (89% or 163,587 victims) were not finalised within 30 days. (Tables 3 & 5)


MOTOR VEHICLE THEFT

The number of victims of Motor vehicle theft increased by 3%, from 50,182 victims in 2014 to 51,614 in 2015. The most common location for Motor vehicle theft to occur was Outbuilding/residential land (46% or 23,763 victims), followed by Street/footpath (31% or 15,874 victims). (Tables 1 & 3)


OTHER THEFT

Victims of Other theft increased by 5% in 2015 to 508,738 – the highest level since 2012. A third of Other theft victims were victimised at a retail location (33% or 169,049 victims), with a further 20% victimised in an Outbuilding/residential land (99,377 victims). As in previous years, the majority of Other theft investigations in 2015 were not finalised within 30 days (84% or 426,039 victims). (Tables 1, 3 & 5)