4500.0 - Crime and Justice News (Newsletter), Nov 2005  
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 29/11/2005   
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PUBLICATIONS

RECORDED CRIME - VICTIMS, AUSTRALIA (cat. no. 4510.0)

On 23 June 2005, the ABS released the 2004 issue of Recorded Crime - Victims, Australia 2004 . This publication presents statistics on victims of a selected range of offences that were recorded by state and territory police in Australia during 2004. It includes information on the personal characteristics of victims, levels of victimisation, and characteristics associated with the offence such as location, outcome of investigation, and weapon use.

The selected offence categories with the largest number of victims recorded by Australian police during 2004 were other theft (547,800) and unlawful entry with intent (308,368).

The number of victims recorded by Australian police declined in most offence categories in 2004 when compared to 2003. Robbery decreased by 16% and unlawful entry with intent decreased by 13%. Other offence categories to record a decrease in the number of victims included other theft (12%), motor vehicle theft (11%) and blackmail/extortion (4%). Victims of homicide and related offences decreased by 18% and victims of kidnapping/abduction increased by 10%. However, for both these crimes, small numbers are recorded and they are therefore subject to greater variation from year to year than other offence categories.

VICTIMS(a), Percentage change in number from 2003 to 2004
graph: Victims. percentage changes in number from 2003 to 2004
(a) The definition of a victim varies according to the category of the offence.


In 2004, the victimisation rates for unlawful entry with intent (1,534 per 100,000 population), motor vehicle theft (437 per 100,000 population) and homicide and related offences (4 per 100,000 population) were the lowest since national reporting began in 1993. The victimisation rates for robbery (82 per 100,000 population) and other theft (2,724 per 100,000 population) were the lowest since 1996.

More males than females were victims of robbery (67% of victims were male), blackmail/extortion and murder (66%), attempted murder (73%) and murder (63%). For kidnapping/abduction, more females were victims than males (69% of victims were female).

Persons aged 25 years or older comprised approximately two in three recorded victims of attempted murder, murder and blackmail/extortion. In contrast, this age group comprised only one in four victims of kidnapping/abduction. Kidnapping/abduction had the highest proportion of victims aged 0-14 (31%).



CORRECTIVE SERVICES, AUSTRALIA (cat. no. 4512.0)

The March quarter 2005 issue of Corrective Services, Australia was released on 23 June 2005. This publication presents time series information on persons in custody and community-based corrections. Details are provided by state/territory on prisoner counts by type of custody, legal status and Indigenous status.

The average number of prisoners in full-time custody on the first day of the three months in the March quarter was 24,078. Of these, the average number of unsentenced prisoners was 5,246 (22%).
graph: Persons in Prison Custody, Proportion unsentenced per month