4530.0 - Crime Victimisation, Australia, 2012-13 Quality Declaration 
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 12/02/2014   
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HOW MANY PEOPLE EXPERIENCED PERSONAL CRIME IN 2012-13? Endnote 1

VICTIMISATION (see Datacube 1, Table 1)

In the 12 months prior to interview in 2012–13, Australians were more likely to experience threatened assault than any of the other selected personal crime types. They were also more likely to experience physical assault than either robbery or sexual assault.

Of the 18.4 million people aged 15 years and over in Australia, an estimated:
  • 576,800 (3.1%) were victims of at least one threatened assault, including face-to-face and non face-to-face threatened assaults
  • 498,000 (2.7%) were victims of at least one physical assault
  • 65,700 (0.4%) were victims of at least one robbery
  • 40,700 (0.2%) were victims of at least one sexual assault (people aged 18 years and over only).

Graph Image for VICTIMISATION RATES(a), Selected personal crimes, Australia, 2012-13

Footnote(s): (a) The total number of victims of a crime in a given population, expressed as a percentage of that population.

Source(s): Crime Victimisation, Australia




REPORTING TO POLICE (see Datacube 1, Table 1)

The proportion of victims who reported the most recent incident of each type of personal crime they experienced to police varied depending on the type of crime. The reporting rates for victims who experienced physical assault and robbery were higher than the reporting rates for victims of face to face threatened assault and non face-to-face threatened assault. The reporting rate for sexual assault has been excluded from this discussion as there is a high relative standard error associated with this estimate (see Datacube 1, Table 1a).

In 2012-13, an estimated:
  • 50% of physical assault victims (or 247,700 victims) reported their most recent incident to police
  • 50% of robbery victims (or 32,700 victims) reported their most recent incident to police
  • 37% of face-to-face threatened assault victims (or 190,500 victims) reported their most recent incident to police
  • 25% of non face-to-face threatened assault victims (or 51,400 victims) reported their most recent incident to police.

Graph Image for REPORTING RATES(a), Selected personal crimes, Australia, 2012-13

Footnote(s): (a) The total number of households that had the most recent incident of the household crime reported to police, expressed as a percentage of all households experiencing the household crime. The incident may have been reported by any member of the household or another person. (b) The estimated reporting rate for sexual assault has a relative standard error of 25% to 50% and should be used with caution.

Source(s): Crime Victimisation, Australia




EXPERIENCE OF MULTIPLE VICTIMISATION (see Datacube 2, Table 6)

Table A (below) provides a summary of the number and proportion of victims who experienced a single incident compared to multiple incidents of each type of selected personal crime within the 12 months prior to interview.
  • Of the selected personal crime types, victims of robbery were the most likely to experience a single incident only. Approximately three quarters (76%) of robbery victims experienced one incident only, compared to nearly half (47%) of physical assault victims and approximately one third (32%) of threatened assault victims. Victims of physical assault were more likely than victims of threatened assault to experience a single incident.
  • Nearly half (47%) of people who experienced threatened assault (including both face-to-face and non face-to-face threatened assault) experienced three or more incidents of threatened assault. In comparison, just under one third (30%) of victims of physical assault experienced three or more incidents.
Robbery involving two or three or more incidents were excluded from analysis.Endnote 2


Table A: MULTIPLE VICTIMISATION, Personal crime, 2012-13

Persons

Proportions

Victims experiencing one or multiple incidents

Total victims(a)
Victims experiencing one or multiple incidents

Total victims(a)
One incident
Two incidents
Three or more incidents
One incident
Two incidents
Three or more incidents
'000
'000
'000
'000
%
%
%
%

Physical assault
235.0
105.7
150.9
498.0
47.2
21.2
30.3
100.0
Threatened assault(b)
184.6
101.8
271.0
576.8
32.0
17.7
47.0
100.0
Robbery
49.7
*7.4
*6.2
65.7
75.7
*11.2
*9.4
100.0

(a) Includes persons where the number of incidents experienced is unknown
(b) Includes both face-to-face and non face-to-face threatened assault

* Estimate has a relative standard error (RSE) of 25% to 50% and should be used with caution.


ENDNOTES

1 All comparisons discussed have been tested for statistical significance with a 95% level of confidence that there is a real difference in the two populations being tested. Only data with a relative standard error (RSE) of less than 25% is referred to in the text of this publication. For further information, refer to the Technical Note.

2 Due to the relatively small numbers of persons experiencing two or more incidents of robbery in the 12 months prior to interview, these estimates are subject to high sampling error and as such have not been included in the analysis (for further details refer to the Technical Note).