BREAK-IN

HOW MANY HOUSEHOLDS EXPERIENCED A BREAK-IN DURING 2017–18? (Tables 1 and 21)

During the 2017–18 reference period, an estimated 2.5% of Australian households (231,100) experienced at least one break-in.

Households in the lowest quintile of the Index of Relative Socio-economic Advantage and Disadvantage (3.1%) were more likely to experience a break-in compared to households in the highest quintile (2.1%).^{Endnote 1}

EXPERIENCE OF MULTIPLE VICTIMISATION (Table 12)

Of all households that experienced a break-in during the 2017–18 reference period:

• 77% (177,400) experienced a single incident
• 16% (36,000) experienced two incidents
• 8% (18,600) experienced three or more incidents.

WHETHER MOST RECENT INCIDENT WAS REPORTED TO POLICE (Table 22)

Approximately three-quarters (72% or 166,800) of households had their most recent incident of break-in reported to police.

Around one in eight households (12% or 27,300 households) that experienced a break-in did not report the incident to police as they believed that the police would have been unwilling/unable to do anything, while a further 8.2% (18,900 households) considered the incident to be too trivial/unimportant.

OTHER SELECTED CHARACTERISTICS OF MOST RECENT INCIDENT (Table 22)

In the most recent incident of break-in experienced by households:

• the majority of households had property stolen (73% or 169,700 households)
• over a quarter of households had personal items stolen (29% or 65,800 households)
• less than half of households had property damaged (45% or 103,300 households)
• the offender/s confronted someone in around one in eight households (12% or 28,500 households).

ATTEMPTED BREAK-IN

HOW MANY HOUSEHOLDS EXPERIENCED AN ATTEMPTED BREAK-IN DURING 2017–18? (Tables 1 and 21)

During the 2017–18 reference period, an estimated 2.2% of Australian households (205,400) experienced at least one incident of attempted break-in.

During this period, the following groups were more likely to experience an attempted break-in:

• households in the lowest quintile of the Index of Relative Socio-economic Advantage and Disadvantage (2.9%) compared to households in the highest quintile (1.6%) Endnote 1
• households in the balance of state/territory (2.5%) compared to households in a capital city (2.0%)
• houses (2.3%) compared to apartments (1.7%).

EXPERIENCE OF MULTIPLE VICTIMISATION (Table 12)

Of all households that experienced an attempted break-in during the 2017–18 reference period:

• 73% (150,200) experienced a single incident
• 19% (37,900) experienced two incidents
• 7.2% (14,800) experienced three or more incidents.

WHETHER MOST RECENT INCIDENT WAS REPORTED TO POLICE (Table 23)

Over one third of households (39% or 79,400) had their most recent incident of attempted break in reported to police.

Just over one-quarter of households (28% or 56,500) did not report the incident to police because it was considered to be too trivial/unimportant. A further 15% of households (29,800) believed that there was nothing the police could do.

OTHER SELECTED CHARACTERISTICS OF MOST RECENT INCIDENT (Table 23)

In the most recent incident of attempted break-in experienced by households, the most commonly identified evidence of attempted break-in was damage to or tampering with doors or windows (47% or 96,500), followed by seeing or hearing someone trying to break-in (20% or 40,400).

ENDNOTES

Endnote 1 The Index of Relative Socio-Economic Advantage and Disadvantage ranks areas on a continuum from most disadvantaged to most advantaged. Lower quintiles indicate greater levels of disadvantage and a lack of advantage in general compared to higher quintiles. For further information, see Explanatory Notes.