RELATIONSHIP OF OFFENDER TO VICTIM
Relationship of offender to victim data are presented for all states and territories, except for Western Australia for 2008. The quality of the data for offence types varied across jurisdictions, therefore the range of offences reported in the chapter may be limited for some jurisdictions. In some cases the data are not presented due to confidentiality. For more information see paragraphs 29-32 of the Explanatory Notes.
Summary
Across the selected states and territories, the offender was known to the victim in at least half of all homicide offences. In contrast, for those jurisdictions who were able to report about robbery, the offender was a stranger to the majority of robbery victims. Within each jurisdiction who reported information about assault, men were more likely to be victims of assault where they did not know the offender, whereas women were more likely to know the offender; identifying family members as offenders.
New South Wales
In 2008, there were 152 victims of homicide in New South Wales. Most victims of homicide knew their offender (93 victims or 61%). Of the 50 (33%) victims of homicide who had familial relationships with the offender, 14 were partners (9%), and 29 were other family members (19%).
Of the 79,847 assaults in New South Wales: 35% of victims identified the offender as a stranger; 33% identified non-family members as the offender; while 29% identified family members as the offender. Women were more likely than men to identify a partner as the offender for assault (17% of female victims, 3% of male victims).
In 2008, there were 7,140 sexual assault victims in New South Wales. Victims of sexual assault knew their offender in 77% of cases (5,471 victims), with 35% having a familial relationship with the offender (2,479 victims). Men and women were similarly likely to identify a family member as the offender for sexual assault (38% of male victims, and 34% of female victims).
Victoria
Of the 21,404 victims of assault in Victoria in 2008, 44% (9,403) reported knowing their offender. Female victims were more likely than male victims to know the offender (65% and 31% respectively). However, for sexual assault offences, which totalled 3,986 victims in 2008, a higher proportion of male victims knew their offender than female victims (81% and 73% respectively).
Queensland
In 2008, of the 19,423 victims of assaults recorded by Queensland, nearly half (49%) of the victims knew their offender. Victims of assault reported the offender to be a current partner in 7% of cases (1,268 victims). Male victims of assault were most likely to not know the offender (59% or 7,096 victims).
In 2008, there were 4,440 sexual assault victims; most victims knew the offender (64% or 2,847 victims). The offender was a partner for 131 victims (3%), and another family member in the case of 404 victims (9%). Kidnapping and abduction victims (total of 60 victims) did not know the offender in 79% of cases (46 victims).
South Australia
In 2008, there were 17,178 victims of assault in South Australia. A quarter (25%) of the victims of assault had a familial relationship with the offender; 11% (1,938 victims) identified a partner as the offender. More female victims of assault identified a family member as the offender (42%) than male victims (12%).
Of the total number of victims of sexual assault (1,583 victims), 2% (37 victims) identified a partner as the offender, while 5% (80 victims) identified an ex-partner as the offender. Just over half (51% or 30 victims) of kidnapping and abduction victims knew the offender; family members were identified as the offender by 15% of victims for this offence type. The vast majority (91% or 900 victims) of robbery victims indicated that the offender was unknown to them.
Tasmania
There were 3,749 victims of assault in Tasmania in 2008. Most victims of assault knew the offender (65% or 2,447 victims); 18% (or 667) of victims identified a partner as the offender, while 9% (344 victims) identified an ex-partner as the offender. The proportion of women who identified an offender as a partner (32%) for assault was much higher than for men (4%).
The vast majority of sexual assault victims knew the offender (76% or 147 victims); 29% (57 victims) identified a family member as the offender. More male victims of sexual assault (44%) identified a family member as the offender than female victims (28%).
Northern Territory
Of the total number of victims of assault in the Northern Territory (5,261 victims), the majority identified a family member as the offender (37% or 1,967 victims). Partners were identified as the offender by 28% or 1,463 victims, while ex-partners comprised 9% or 449 victims for this offence type.
A large proportion of female victims of assault (43% or 1,313 victims) reported that the offender was a partner.
A higher proportion of male victims (80%) of sexual assault identified the offender as someone they knew than female victims (52%).
Australian Capital Territory
In 2008 there were 2,296 victims of assault in the Australian Capital Territory. Just over half (55%) or 1,255 victims of assault knew the offender; 12% (266 victims) identified their partner as the offender. Female victims of assault were more likely to identify a current partner as the offender (26%), or ex-partner (12%), whereas men were more likely to not know their assailant (42%).
Just over a quarter (26%) or 56 sexual assault victims had a familial relationship with the offender.
Quality Declaration 
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