Crime Victimisation, Australia

This is not the latest release View the latest release

National and state and territory crime rates for assault, threat, robbery, break-in, theft or stealing, property damage and police reporting rates.

Cite
Print
Reference period
2020-21 financial year
Released
22/02/2022
View all releases

Key statistics

In the last 12 months:   

  • sexual assault increased from 0.3% to 0.5%
  • break-ins decreased from 2.4% to 1.7%
  • malicious property damage decreased from 4.6% to 4.0%
  • other personal and household crimes remained stable

The statistics discussed in the national commentary refer to experiences which occurred in the 12 months prior to interview (conducted between July 2020 and June 2021), referred to as the 2020-21 reference period.

All statistics referred to throughout the commentary are available from the data downloads. Only data with a relative standard error (RSE) of less than 25% are referred to in the text of this publication, and any differences between population groups or survey periods mentioned in the commentary are statistically significant at the 95% confidence level (refer to Methodology for more information).

Personal crime summary

Victimisation rate

An estimated 4.4% of persons aged 15 years and over (889,800) experienced one or more selected personal crimes in the 2020-21 reference period, including:

  • 2.0% (412,500) who experienced physical assault
  • 2.2% (444,400) who experienced face-to-face threatened assault
  • 0.8% (167,300) who experienced non face-to-face threatened assault
  • 0.3% (54,200) who experienced robbery
  • 0.5% (104,100) who experienced sexual assault (persons aged 18 years and over)

Between 2008-09 and 2020-21 there was a decrease in the victimisation rate for the following personal crimes:

  • physical assault (3.1% to 2.0%)
  • face-to-face threatened assault (3.9% to 2.2%)
  • non face-to-face threatened assault (1.2% to 0.8%)
  • robbery (0.6% to 0.3%) 

The victimisation rate for sexual assault (for persons aged 18 years and over) increased between 2008-09 (0.3%) and 2020-21 (0.5%).

  1. Victimisation rate refers to the total number of persons aged 15 years and over who experienced a crime type in the last 12 months, expressed as a percentage of all persons aged 15 years and over (18 years and over for sexual assault).
  2. Survey error should be considered when analysing changes over time.

For more information, refer to Methodology.

Police reporting

Of those who experienced a personal crime in the 2020-21 reference period, the following reported the most recent incident to the police:  

  • 60% (245,600) for physical assault
  • 40% (179,200) for face-to-face threatened assault
  • 38% (63,500) for non face-to-face threatened assault
  • 64% (34,600) for robbery
  • 22% (22,600) for sexual assault

Household crime summary

Victimisation rate

An estimated 9.4% of households (919,500) experienced one or more selected household crimes in the 2020-21 reference period, including:

  • 1.7% (171,600) that experienced break-in
  • 1.8% (179,400) that experienced attempted break-in
  • 0.5% (47,100) that experienced motor vehicle theft
  • 2.5% (242,400) that experienced theft from a motor vehicle
  • 4.0% (394,600) that experienced malicious property damage
  • 2.2% (218,200) that experienced other theft

Between 2008-09 and 2020-21 there was a decrease in the victimisation rate for all selected household crimes, including:

  • break-in (3.3% to 1.7%)
  • attempted break-in (3.1% to 1.8%)
  • motor vehicle theft (1.1% to 0.5%)
  • theft from a motor vehicle (4.5% to 2.5%)
  • malicious property damage (11.1% to 4.0%)
  • other theft (4.4% to 2.2%)
  1. Victimisation rate refers to the total number of households that experienced a crime type in the last 12 months, expressed as a percentage of all households.
  2. Survey error should be considered when analysing changes over time.

For more information, refer to Methodology.

Police reporting

Of those which experienced a household crime in the 2020-21 reference period, the following reported the most recent incident to the police: 

  • 68% (116,700) for break-in
  • 45% (80,900) for attempted break-in
  • 84% (39,500) for motor vehicle theft
  • 54% (130,700) for theft from a motor vehicle
  • 51% (200,500) for malicious property damage
  • 37% (81,000) for other theft

Physical assault

An estimated 2.0% of persons (412,500) experienced physical assault, which was similar to the rate in 2019-20 (2.3%). Both men (2.0%) and women (2.1%) experienced physical assault at a similar rate.

The following groups were more likely to experience physical assault:

  • persons living in an area in the lowest quintile (most disadvantaged) of the Index of Relative Socio-Economic Advantage and Disadvantage (2.6%) compared with persons living in the highest quintile (1.3%)
  • unemployed persons (3.9%) compared with employed persons (2.2%) and persons not in the labour force (1.6%)
  • persons aged 15-29 years (3.4%) compared with persons aged 30-44 years (2.0%) and 45 years and over (1.4%)

Multiple victimisation

Of those who experienced physical assault:

  • 53% (217,500) experienced two or more incidents
  • women (58%) were more likely to experience two or more incidents than men (47%)

Police reporting

An estimated 60% of persons (245,600) who experienced physical assault reported the most recent incident to the police, which was similar to the rate in 2019-20 (52%). The reporting rate was similar for men (62%) and women (59%).

Note: whilst it may appear that the reporting rate for physical assault has changed between 2019-20 and 2020-21, the difference between the rates is not statistically significant when the sampling error is taken into consideration.

Common reasons for not reporting to police include:

  • telling somebody else instead (9.2% or 38,100)
  • believing that it was a personal matter (8.4% or 34,600)

Relationship to perpetrator in most recent incident

For men who experienced physical assault, the perpetrator was most often:

  • a male (77% or 150,400)
  • a stranger (44% or 85,300) or other known person (non family member or intimate partner) such as a friend or colleague (42% or 81,600)

For women who experienced physical assault, the perpetrator was most often:

  • a male (70% or 149,400)
  • a family member or intimate partner (49% or 104,300)
  1. Includes family member, current partner (married/de facto), previous partner (married/de facto), boyfriend, girlfriend or date and ex-boyfriend, ex-girlfriend or ex-date.
  2. Includes friend, professional or educational relationship, neighbour, known by sight only, other known persons and those who knew the perpetrator but did not give details of the relationship.

For more information, refer to Methodology.

Other characteristics of the most recent incident

For men who experienced physical assault: 

  • the incident most commonly occurred in a non-residential location (71% or 138,700), including 33% (64,200) that occurred at work
  • 55% (102,600) believed that alcohol or another substance contributed (18 years and over only)

For women who experienced physical assault: 

  • the incident most commonly occurred in a residential location (60% or 128,000), including 46% (97,900) that occurred in their own home and 15% (31,000) that occurred in another person’s home
  • 59% (120,000) believed that alcohol or another substance contributed (18 years and over only)

Changes over time

Victimisation rate

Between 2008-09 and 2020-21 there was a decrease in the physical assault victimisation rate for men (3.9% to 2.0%) while the victimisation rate for women remained stable (2.4% to 2.1%).

  1. Victimisation rate refers to the total number of persons in the relevant population who experienced physical assault in the last 12 months, expressed as a percentage of the total relevant population.
  2. Survey error should be considered when analysing changes over time.

For more information, refer to Methodology.

For men, the physical assault victimisation rate declined for the following age groups:

  • 15 to 29 years (8.3% to 3.5%)
  • 30 to 44 years (3.5% to 1.8%)
  1. Victimisation rate refers to the total number of men in the relevant population who experienced physical assault in the last 12 months, expressed as a percentage of the total relevant population.  
  2. Survey error should be considered when analysing changes over time.

For more information, refer to Methodology.

For women, the physical assault victimisation rate for all age groups remained stable between 2008-09 and 2020-21.

Police reporting rate

Between 2008-09 and 2020-21 there was an increase in the physical assault police reporting rate for men (42% to 62%), while the rate for women remained stable (49% to 59%).

Note: whilst it may appear that the reporting rate for physical assault for women has changed between 2008-09 and 2020-21, the difference between the rates is not statistically significant when the sampling error is taken into consideration.

  1. Reporting rate refers to the total number of persons that reported the most recent incident of physical assault to police, expressed as a percentage of the total number of persons that experienced physical assault.
  2. Survey error should be considered when analysing changes over time.

For more information, refer to Methodology.

Face-to-face threatened assault

An estimated 2.2% of persons (444,400) experienced face-to-face threatened assault, which was similar to the rate in 2019-20 (2.4%). Both men (2.3%) and women (2.1%) experienced face-to-face threatened assault at a similar rate.

Persons living in an area in the lowest quintile (most disadvantaged) of the Index of Relative Socio-Economic Advantage and Disadvantage (2.7%) were more likely to experience face-to-face threatened assault compared with persons living in the highest quintile (1.5%).

Multiple victimisation

Of those who experienced face-to-face threatened assault:

  • 54% (238,400) experienced two or more incidents
  • men (55%) and women (54%) were about as likely to experience two or more incidents

Police reporting

Approximately 40% of persons (179,200) who experienced face-to-face threatened assault reported the most recent incident to the police, which was similar to the rate in 2019-20 (36%). The reporting rate was similar for men (39%) and women (41%).

For men, common reasons for not reporting to police include:

  • feeling it was too trivial or unimportant (21% or 46,500)
  • thinking that the police would be unwilling or unable to do anything (14% or 31,200)

For women, common reasons for not reporting to police include:

  • telling somebody else instead (18% or 39,000)
  • thinking that the police would be unwilling or unable to do anything (13% or 26,900)

Other characteristics of the most recent incident

For men who experienced face-to-face threatened assault:

  • the perpetrator was most commonly a male (80% or 180,600)
  • the perpetrator was a known person in 52% of incidents (118,000)
  • the incident most commonly occurred at work (40% or 90,500)

For women who experienced face-to-face threatened assault:

  • the perpetrator was most commonly a male (65% or 139,900)
  • the perpetrator was more likely a known person (59% or 127,400) than a stranger (41% or 87,100)
  • the known perpetrator was commonly a family member or intimate partner (25% or 53,500) or known in a professional or educational capacity (20% or 42,600)
  • the incident most commonly occurred at work (36% or 76,400) or at the woman’s home (28% or 59,900)

Approximately 51% of men and 50% of women aged 18 years and over who experienced face-to-face threatened assault believed that alcohol or another substance contributed to the most recent incident.

Changes over time

Between 2008-09 and 2020-21 there was a decrease in the face-to-face threatened assault victimisation rate for both men (4.7% to 2.3%) and women (3.2% to 2.1%).

  1. Victimisation rate refers to the total number of persons in the relevant population who experienced face-to-face threatened assault in the last 12 months, expressed as a percentage of the total relevant population.  
  2. Survey error should be considered when analysing changes over time.

For more information, refer to Methodology.

Non face-to-face threatened assault

An estimated 0.8% of persons (167,300) experienced non face-to-face threatened assault (such as over the phone), which was similar to the rate in 2019-20 (0.9%). Women (1.0%) experienced non face-to-face threatened assault at a higher rate than men (0.6%).

Persons living in an area in the lowest quintile (most disadvantaged) of the Index of Relative Socio-Economic Advantage and Disadvantage (1.2%) were more likely to experience non face-to-face threatened assault compared with persons living in the highest quintile (0.6%).

Type of non face-to-face threatened assault

Of those who experienced non-face-to-face threatened assault, the most common method of exposure was over the phone (53% or 88,800), followed by SMS (38% or 63,100).

  1. Persons who experienced non face-to-face threatened assault may have been threatened in multiple ways during one or more incidents, as such components will sum to more than 100%.
  2. Includes incidents in which the threatened assault occurred via email, in writing, or another way

For more information, refer to Methodology.

Police reporting

Approximately 38% of persons (63,500) who experienced non face-to-face threatened assault reported the most recent incident to the police, which was higher than the rate in 2019-20 (24%). 

Robbery

An estimated 0.3% of persons (54,200) experienced robbery, which was the same as the rate in 2019-20 (0.3%). The rate was similar for men (0.3%) and women (0.2%).

Persons aged 15 to 34 years (0.5%) were more likely to experience robbery compared with persons in all other age categories.

Police reporting

Approximately 64% of persons (34,600) who experienced robbery reported their most recent incident to the police, which was the same as 2019-20 (64%). 

Other characteristics of the most recent incident

In the most recent incident of robbery:

  • the location was most likely to be non-residential (83% or 44,800)
  • the majority of incidents did not involve the use of a weapon (95% or 51,600)
  • property was not stolen in 71% of incidents (38,700)

Sexual Assault

An estimated 0.5% of persons aged 18 years and over (104,100) experienced sexual assault, which was higher than the rate in 2019-20 (0.3%). 

Female experiences of sexual assault

Estimates for male experiences are subject to high sampling error (for further details on sampling error refer to the Methodology page). For this reason, only information on women’s experience of sexual assault are included here.

In the 12 months prior to the survey 0.9% of women aged 18 years and over (92,500) experienced sexual assault, which was higher than the rate in 2019-20 (0.5%). 

Young women aged 18 to 29 years (3.3%) were more likely to experience sexual assault than women aged 30 to 44 years (0.7%) or 45 years and over (0.2%).

  1. Victimisation rate refers to the total number of women in the relevant population who experienced sexual assault in the last 12 months, expressed as a percentage of the total relevant population.  

For more information, refer to Methodology.

Police reporting

Approximately 23% of women (21,300) who experienced sexual assault in the last 12 months reported the most recent incident to the police, which was similar to the rate in 2019-20 (25%).

Changes over time

Changes in the 12-month victimisation rate of sexual assault over time can be influenced by real-world changes in the prevalence of sexual assault, as well as changing attitudes and awareness of family, domestic, and sexual violence more broadly. These changes can impact on people’s ability to recognise sexual assault when it occurs, and their willingness to disclose their experiences to a survey interviewer.

Between 2008-09 and 2020-21, the sexual assault victimisation rate for women increased from 0.5% to 0.9%.

  1. Victimisation rate refers to the total number of women aged 18 years and over who experienced sexual assault in the last 12 months, expressed as a percentage of all women aged 18 years and over.
  2. Low prevalence offences are subject to survey volatility due to higher sample error, meaning that estimates will fluctuate year on year.

For more information, refer to Methodology.

For women aged 18 to 29 years, the sexual assault victimisation rate increased between 2008-09 (1.3%) and 2020-21 (3.3%), driven by the significant increase from 2019-20 (1.2%).

The sexual assault victimisation rate for the other age groups remained relatively stable.

  1. Victimisation rate refers to the total number of women aged 18 to 29 years who experienced sexual assault in the last 12 months, expressed as a percentage of all women aged 18 to 29 years.
  2. Low prevalence offences are subject to survey volatility due to higher sample error, meaning that estimates will fluctuate year on year – this can be more pronounced for when data is analysed for specific population groups.
  3. Estimates for women aged 18-29 years who experienced sexual assault in the 2012-13, 2013-14 and 2017-18 reference periods have a relative standard error of 25% to 50% and should be used with caution.

For more information, refer to Methodology.

Break-in

An estimated 1.7% of households (171,600) experienced a break-in, which was a decrease from 2.4% in 2019-20. The majority of these households experienced a single incident (76% or 129,700).

Police reporting

Approximately 68% of households (116,700) that experienced a break-in reported the most recent incident to the police, which was lower than the rate in 2019-20 (74%). Common reasons for not reporting the incident include:

  • thinking there was nothing the police could do or would be willing to do (12% or 20,800)
  • thinking it too trivial or unimportant (11% or 19,500)

Other characteristics of the most recent incident

During the most recent incident:

  • 66% of households had something stolen (113,000)
  • 46% of households had property damaged (79,600)
  • 12% of households had someone confront the perpetrator (20,100)

Types of property stolen during the most recent incident

The most commonly stolen types of property include:

  • personal items, such as jewellery and clothing (20% or 34,200)
  • bicycles or sporting equipment (18% or 30,800)
  • money, purse or wallet (16% or 26,900)
  • tools (15% or 25,500)

Attempted break-in

An estimated 1.8% of households (179,400) experienced an attempted break-in, which was similar to the rate in 2019-20 (1.9%). The majority of these households experienced a single incident (78% or 139,400).

Households in an area in the lowest quintile (most disadvantaged) of the Index of Relative Socio-Economic Advantage and Disadvantage (2.2%) were more likely to experience an attempted break-in than households in the highest quintile (1.6%).

Households outside of capital cities (2.3%) were more likely than those in capital cities to experience an attempted break-in (1.6%).

Police reporting

Approximately 45% of households (80,900) that experienced an attempted break-in reported the most recent incident to the police, which was similar to the rate in 2019-20 (40%).

Common reasons for not reporting to the police include:

  • thinking it was too trivial or unimportant (26% or 46,100)
  • thinking there was nothing the police could do (14% or 24,300)

Evidence of the most recent incident

The most common types of evidence of an attempted break-in include:

  • a door or window was damaged or tampered with (43% or 77,300)
  • someone being seen or heard trying to break-in (22% or 40,000)

Motor vehicle theft

An estimated 0.5% of households (47,100) had a motor vehicle stolen in 2020-21, which was similar to the rate in 2019-20 (0.6%). The majority of these households experienced a single incident (94% or 44,300).

Police reporting

Approximately 84% of households (39,500) that had a motor vehicle stolen reported the most recent incident to the police, which was similar to the rate in 2019-20 (87%).

Location of the most recent incident

Common locations where the motor vehicle was stolen include:

  • the person or another person’s home (62% or 29,000)
  • in the street or other open land (35% or 16,400)

Theft from a motor vehicle

An estimated 2.5% of households (242,400) experienced theft from a motor vehicle, which was similar to the rate in 2019-20 (2.7%). The majority of these households experienced a single incident (85% or 206,700).

Police reporting

Approximately 54% of households (130,700) that experienced theft from a motor vehicle reported the most recent incident to the police, which was similar to the rate in 2019-20 (53%). 

Common reasons for not reporting to the police include:

  • thinking it was too trivial or unimportant (30% or 73,400)
  • thinking there was nothing the police could do (9.5% or 23,100)

Location of the most recent incident

Common locations where the incident occurred include:

  • the person’s home (72% or 174,800)
  • in the street or other open land (12% or 28,800)

Types of property stolen during the most recent incident

Common types of property stolen include:

  • money, purse or wallet (45% or 109,400)
  • personal items, such as jewellery and clothing (32% or 78,100)
  • motor vehicle parts (14% or 33,700)
  • personal electronic equipment, such as a smart watch, iPad or laptop (11% or 25,900)

Malicious property damage

An estimated 4.0% of households (394,600) experienced malicious property damage, which was a decrease from 4.6% in 2019-20. The majority of these households experienced a single incident (80% or 315,300).

Households in an area in the lowest quintile (most disadvantaged) of the Index of Relative Socio-Economic Advantage and Disadvantage (5.0%) were more likely to experience malicious property damage compared with households in the highest quintile (3.4%).

Police reporting

Approximately 51% of households (200,500) that experienced malicious property damage reported the most recent incident to the police, which was lower than the rate in 2019-20 (54%).

Common reasons for not reporting to police include: 

  • thinking it was too trivial or unimportant (27% or 106,700)
  • thinking there was nothing the police could do (11% or 43,500)

Types of property damaged during the most recent incident

Common types of property damaged, defaced or destroyed during the incident include:

  • a car or other motor vehicle (29% or 112,300)
  • other exterior items, such as walls, fences and letterboxes (28% or 108,600)
  • external doors (23% or 91,900)

Other theft

An estimated 2.2% of households (218,200) experienced other theft, which was similar to the rate in 2019-20 (2.4%). The majority of these households experienced a single incident (79% or 172,300).

Police reporting

Approximately 37% of households (81,000) that experienced other theft reported the most recent incident to the police, which was the same as 2019-20 (37%). 

Common reasons for not reporting to police include:

  • thinking it was too trivial or unimportant (34% or 74,600)
  • thinking there was nothing the police could do (15% or 32,700)

Location of the most recent incident

Common locations where the incident occurred include:

  • person’s home (64% or 139,400)
  • place of work (7.4% or 16,200)

Types of property stolen during the most recent incident

The most common types of property stolen include:

  • bicycles or sporting equipment (25% or 53,400)
  • personal items, such as jewellery and clothing (20% or 44,400)
  • outdoor or garden items (17% or 37,400)

State and territory statistics

The state and territory statistics discussed in the following commentary have been obtained by pooling data across consecutive survey iterations to improve the reliability of estimates at the state/territory level.

The pooled estimates can be understood as an annual average of the estimates from multiple survey years. The survey enumeration periods contributing to each pooled estimate are indicated by the label of the pooled period. For instance, the 2019-21 pooled period is an average of the 2019-20 and 2020-21 surveys, spanning from July 2019 to June 2021.

While a pooled period spans multiple survey years, the data represents the average annual rate/estimate for those years, not the total number of victims over the 24-month period. For example, the estimated 133,700 victims of physical assault in New South Wales for the 2019-21 reference period refers to the average number of persons that experienced physical assault in the 12 months prior to the interview, conducted during the 2019-20 and 2020-21 reference periods.

Data are pooled across two consecutive survey years for all crime types except for sexual assault, where three years have been used. Pooled sexual assault and robbery data are not referred to in the commentary but are available in Tables 25 - 27 from the data downloads.

For more information refer to the Methodology.

New South Wales

Victoria

Queensland

South Australia

Western Australia

Tasmania

Northern Territory

Australian Capital Territory

Data downloads

National summary and time series (Tables 1a-7d)

2020-21 National summary statistics.
Victimisation rates and police reporting rates, annual time series from 2008-09, by sex and age. 
Contribution of alcohol or other substances, annual time series from 2010-11.

Data files
Download xlsx [169.3 KB]

Personal crime (Tables 8a-16b)

Socio-demographic characteristics of victims of personal crime, multiple victimisation and characteristics of the most recent incident.

Data files
Download xlsx [149.63 KB]

Household crimes (Tables 17a-24b)

Household characteristics of victims of household crime, multiple victimisation and characteristics of the most recent incident.

Data files
Download xlsx [116.03 KB]

State and territory time series, pooled data (Tables 25a-29d)

State/territory victimisation rates and police reporting rates, pooled time series from 2008-10.

Data files
Download xlsx [181.4 KB]

State and territory times series, single year data (Tables 30a-33d)

State/territory victimisation rates and police reporting rates, annual time series from 2008-09. 

Data files
Download xlsx [167.63 KB]

Populations (Tables 34a-35b)

Single year and pooled national and state/territory populations, by sex.

Data files
Download xlsx [45.81 KB]

Data item list

List of data items collected in the survey.

Data files
Download xlsx [235.07 KB]

All data cubes

All Crime Victimisation, Australia 2020-21 data download files.

Data files
Download zip [757.17 KB]

Previous catalogue number

This release previously used catalogue number 4530.0.

Methodology

Crime Victimisation, Australia methodology, 2020-21 financial year

Media releases