WESTERN AUSTRALIA

HOMICIDE AND RELATED OFFENCES

The number of victims of Homicide and related offences recorded decreased from 64 victims in 2016 to 44 victims in 2017. (Table 6)

Around two-thirds of these victims were male (29 victims) and 15 were female. (Table 7)

Over half (55%) of all Homicide offences were Murders (24 victims). In 2017, 15 Murders occurred at a residential location and 6 Murders involved the use of a knife. (Tables 8 and 9)


ASSAULT

The number of victims of Assault recorded in Western Australia decreased for the first time in three years, down by 1,599 victims to 30,653 victims in 2017. This equated to 1,188 victims of Assault per 100,000 persons, and remained the second highest rate across all jurisdictions for which Assault data are published. (Table 6)

In 2017, females accounted for more than half (59%) of Assault victims in Western Australia (18,037 victims). This represented the second highest proportion of female victims across jurisdictions where Assault data are published in 2017, behind the Northern Territory (63% or 4,836 female victims).

Just over half (51%) of all Assault victims in Western Australia were aged between 25 and 44 years (15,572 victims). Female victims comprised 63% of this age group (9,734 female victims). (Table 7)

Almost two-thirds (64%) of Assaults occurred at a residential location (19,615 victims), which was the highest proportion of offences occurring at this location across all jurisdictions for which Assault is published. The majority of Assaults (81%) did not involve the use of a weapon (24,844 victims). (Tables 8 and 9)


SEXUAL ASSAULT

The number of Sexual assault victims recorded decreased between 2016 and 2017, from 2,157 to 1,899 victims (down 12%). This was the first decrease in the number of victims of this offence in Western Australia since 2011. The victimisation rate also decreased by 9 victims to 74 victims per 100,000 persons in 2017. (Table 6)


More than half (51%) of all victims of sexual assault were aged between 0 and 19 years (972 victims). (Table 7)

The majority (71%) of Sexual assaults occurred at a residential location in 2017 (1,340 victims), with a further 17% occurring at a community location (317 victims). Seven out of ten (72%) Sexual assaults did not involve the use of a weapon (1,370 victims). (Tables 8 and 9)


ROBBERY

The number of victims of Robbery recorded in Western Australia decreased by 18% from 1,301 victims in 2016 to 1,069 victims in 2017. This was in contrast to the national increase (2%) for this offence over the same time period. (Tables 1 and 6)

In Western Australia both Armed and Unarmed robbery decreased (25% and 10% respectively). (Table 6)

Males were more than twice as likely to be a victim of Robbery in 2017, accounting for 70% (631 victims) of all person victims of this offence. (Table 7)

In 2017, almost a third (30%) of Robberies occurred at a street/footpath location (321 victims), and a further quarter occurred at either a retail (25% or 272 victims) or residential location (24% or 256 victims). (Table 8)


MOTOR VEHICLE THEFT

The number of victims of Motor vehicle theft recorded in Western Australia decreased from 8,357 victims in 2016 to 7,201 victims in 2017, and represented the lowest levels since 2010.

This was the third largest decrease (14%) for this offence since 2016 across all jurisdictions behind Victoria (down 22% or 4,189 victims) and South Australia (down 15% or 526 victims). (Table 6)

The majority of Motor vehicle thefts in 2017 (65%) occurred at a residential location (4,682 victims), which was the highest proportion at this location across all jurisdictions. (Table 8)


OTHER THEFT

In 2017, victims of Other theft decreased by 7% or 5,701 victims from 2016 and represented the second consecutive annual decline. Other theft includes the unauthorised taking or use of goods and services from a person, premises or motor vehicle. (Table 6)

In 2017, a third (33%) of Other theft occurred at a retail location (26,865 victims), a further 19% occurred at a dwelling (15,894 victims) and 10% from a transport location (8,487 victims). Transport location includes airports, train stations and car parks, see Glossary for full list of location inclusions. (Table 8)