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The number of victims of crimes recorded by police increased between 2000 and 2001 for almost all of the offences listed in table 11.6. The largest proportional increases were recorded for victims of blackmail/extortion (37%), attempted murder (17%) and armed robbery (17%). Falls were evident for three offences. Manslaughter showed the largest decrease (29%), with decreases also in driving causing death (6%) and murder (3%). On the basis of crime victimisation rates, between 2000 and 2001 there were increases for most offence types in the likelihood of someone becoming a victim of a crime.
11.6 VICTIMS AND VICTIMISATION RATE, By selected offences recorded by police
|
| 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 |
|
NUMBER |
|
Homicide and related offences | 1,027 | n.a. | 995 | 970 | 1,020 | 1,047 |
| Murder | 312 | 321 | 285 | 343 | 315 | 306 |
| Attempted murder | 335 | 318 | 387 | 359 | 393 | 458 |
| Manslaughter | 38 | 39 | 47 | 43 | 48 | 34 |
| Driving causing death(a) | 342 | n.a. | 276 | 225 | 264 | 249 |
Assault | 114,156 | 124,500 | 130,903 | 134,271 | 138,708 | 151,753 |
Sexual assault | 14,542 | 14,353 | 14,336 | 14,104 | 15,759 | 16,744 |
Kidnapping/abduction | 480 | 562 | 705 | 766 | 693 | 758 |
Robbery | 16,372 | 21,305 | 23,801 | 22,606 | 23,336 | 26,565 |
| Armed robbery | 6,256 | 9,054 | 10,850 | 9,452 | 9,483 | 11,056 |
| Unarmed robbery | 10,116 | 12,251 | 12,951 | 13,154 | 13,853 | 15,509 |
Blackmail/extortion | 268 | 360 | 272 | 255 | 257 | 352 |
Unlawful entry with intent | 402,079 | 421,569 | 434,376 | 415,735 | 429,374 | 435,524 |
| Property theft | 313,902 | 332,525 | 339,512 | 322,983 | (b)n.a. | 325,180 |
| Other | 88,177 | 89,044 | 94,864 | 92,752 | (b)n.a. | 110,344 |
Motor vehicle theft(c) | 122,914 | 130,138 | 131,587 | 129,552 | 138,912 | 139,943 |
Other theft | 521,762 | 530,881 | 563,482 | 612,559 | 681,268 | 699,262 |
|
RATE PER 100,000 POPULATION |
|
Homicide and related offences | 5.6 | n.a. | 5.3 | 5.1 | 5.3 | 5.4 |
| Murder | 1.7 | 1.7 | 1.5 | 1.8 | 1.6 | 1.6 |
| Attempted murder | 1.8 | 1.7 | 2.1 | 1.9 | 2.1 | 2.4 |
| Manslaughter | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.3 | 0.2 |
| Driving causing death(a) | 1.9 | n.a. | 1.5 | 1.2 | 1.4 | 1.3 |
Assault | 623.5 | 672.2 | 699.0 | 709.2 | 724.2 | 782.9 |
Sexual assault | 79.4 | 77.5 | 76.6 | 74.5 | 82.3 | 86.4 |
Kidnapping/abduction | 2.6 | 3.0 | 3.8 | 4.0 | 3.6 | 3.9 |
Robbery | 89.4 | 115.0 | 127.1 | 119.4 | 121.8 | 137.1 |
| Armed robbery | 34.2 | 48.9 | 57.9 | 49.9 | 49.5 | 57.0 |
| Unarmed robbery | 55.3 | 66.1 | 69.2 | 69.5 | 72.3 | 80.0 |
Blackmail/extortion | 1.5 | 1.9 | 1.5 | 1.3 | 1.3 | 1.8 |
Unlawful entry with intent | 2,196.2 | 2,276.2 | 2,319.5 | 2,195.7 | 2,241.7 | 2,246.9 |
| Property theft | 1,714.6 | 1,795.4 | 1,812.9 | 1,705.8 | (b)n.a. | 1,677.6 |
| Other | 481.6 | 480.8 | 506.6 | 489.9 | (b)n.a. | 569.3 |
Motor vehicle theft(c) | 671.4 | 702.7 | 702.7 | 684.2 | 725.2 | 722.0 |
Other theft | 2,850.0 | 2,866.4 | 3,008.9 | 3,235.2 | 3,556.8 | 3,607.5 |
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(a) A change in the recording practices for driving causing death offences in NSW resulted in incomplete counts for this offence in 1997.
(b) A change in the legislation related to unlawful entry with intent (UEWI) offences in SA resulted in an inability to provide UEWI disaggregated into property theft and other for 2000.
(c) Counts for motor vehicle theft prior to 1997 are not directly comparable with those for other years as WA included the theft of caravans and trailers in addition to motor vehicle theft. |
Source: Recorded Crime, Australia, 2001 (4510.0). |
Personal crime
Based on reports to police, males were more likely than females to be victims of personal crime, with the exception of sexual assault and kidnapping/abduction (graph 11.7). The reported sexual assault victimisation rate for females (139 victims per 100,000) was more than four times the male victimisation rate (28.9 victims per 100,000).
As table 11.6 shows, assault is the most common category of offences recorded against the person. Police recorded 151,753 victims of assault during 2001, a 9% increase over the previous year and 33% higher than in 1996. The assault victimisation rate in 2001 was 782.9 victims per 100,000 persons, up from the 724.2 in 2000 and 623.5 per 100,000 persons in 1996. The 16,744 cases of sexual assault recorded in 2001 were 15% higher than in 1996, with the 2001 sexual assault victimisation rate of 86.4 victims per 100,000 persons 9% higher than the 1996 rate of 79.4 per 100,000 persons.
In 2001 there were 306 victims of murder, which represented a rate of 1.6 victims per 100,000 persons. The annual recorded counts for murder victims in Australia have fluctuated over the period 1996 to 2001, partly due to some specific incidents: Tasmania in 1996 where 35 lives were taken in a single incident at Port Arthur; South Australia in 1999 where 12 bodies were discovered at Snowtown; Western Australia in 1999 where 9 victims resulted from 2 family murder/suicide incidents; and Queensland in 2000 where 15 victims of the fire at Childers were recorded. Despite this fluctuation in the number of murder victims, the rate has remained relatively stable over the last six years, ranging from 1.5 to 1.8 murder victims per 100,000 persons.
Property crime
Unlawful entry with intent (UEWI) and other theft are the most frequently occurring of the property offences. The UEWI victimisation rate increased by 2% between 1996 and 2001 to be 2,247 victims per 100,000 persons in 2001. The victimisation rate for motor vehicle theft increased by 8% between 1996 and 2001. The 2001 rate for other theft was 3,607 victims per 100,000 persons, representing a 27% increase since 1996.
Age and sex of victims
Young people aged 15-24 years experienced the highest levels of recorded crime victimisation (table 11.8). Males experienced higher recorded assault rates across all age groups. For the offence category of assault, the rates for 15-24 year olds were approximately twice the average for all age groups. Robbery and sexual assault rates for the 15-19 year age group were more than three times the overall average. The robbery rate for 20-24 year olds was more than twice the national average.
11.8 VICTIMISATION RATES(a) OF SELECTED CRIMES(b) - 2001
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| Age groups (years) | |
|
| |
Offence category | 0-14 | 15-19 | 20-24 | 25-34 | 35-44 | 45 and over | Total(c) |
|
MALES |
|
Murder | 0.8 | 1.3 | 3.0 | 2.7 | 3.1 | 1.5 | 1.9 |
Attempted murder | 1.0 | 3.7 | 9.8 | 7.0 | 4.4 | 1.5 | 3.5 |
Driving causing death | 0.4 | 3.4 | 2.7 | 2.1 | 1.1 | 1.4 | 1.5 |
Assault | 330.7 | 1,756.2 | 1,764.5 | 1,598.7 | 1,024.1 | 390.1 | 887.0 |
Sexual assault | 80.8 | 51.9 | 27.5 | 18.9 | 11.1 | 2.1 | 28.9 |
Kidnapping/abduction | 4.6 | 7.7 | 6.7 | 2.8 | 1.8 | 0.5 | 3.0 |
Robbery(d) | 48.7 | 630.4 | 392.8 | 188.6 | 108.9 | 54.5 | 150.9 |
Blackmail/extortion(d) | 0.2 | 4.7 | 3.1 | 3.3 | 2.6 | 2.2 | 2.4 |
|
FEMALES |
|
Murder | 0.9 | 1.1 | 1.6 | 1.6 | 1.3 | 1.1 | 1.2 |
Attempted murder | 0.6 | 1.2 | 2.2 | 2.1 | 1.8 | 0.6 | 1.2 |
Driving causing death | 0.2 | 2.1 | 0.7 | 0.7 | 0.5 | 0.9 | 0.8 |
Assault | 223.9 | 1,353.1 | 1,365.5 | 1,203.4 | 768.3 | 209.8 | 618.9 |
Sexual assault | 270.2 | 498.0 | 203.3 | 128.7 | 65.4 | 16.3 | 139.0 |
Kidnapping/abduction | 7.1 | 19.6 | 8.7 | 5.7 | 2.3 | 0.4 | 4.8 |
Robbery(d) | 9.0 | 152.2 | 151.0 | 92.5 | 66.5 | 50.0 | 66.4 |
Blackmail/extortion(d) | n.p. | 0.8 | 1.2 | 1.5 | 1.0 | 0.6 | 0.8 |
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PERSONS |
|
Murder | 0.9 | 1.2 | 2.3 | 2.2 | 2.2 | 1.3 | 1.6 |
Attempted murder | 0.8 | 2.5 | 6.1 | 4.6 | 3.1 | 1.0 | 2.4 |
Driving causing death | 0.3 | 2.8 | 1.9 | 1.4 | 0.8 | 1.1 | 1.3 |
Assault | 279.2 | 1,564.8 | 1,579.7 | 1,409.5 | 900.8 | 298.2 | 782.9 |
Sexual assault | 173.3 | 270.5 | 114.0 | 73.8 | 38.6 | 9.5 | 86.4 |
Kidnapping/abduction | 5.9 | 13.5 | 7.7 | 4.3 | 2.0 | 0.5 | 3.9 |
Robbery(d) | 29.5 | 399.5 | 277.1 | 141.8 | 88.3 | 52.5 | 111.3 |
Blackmail/extortion(d) | 0.2 | 2.8 | 2.2 | 2.4 | 1.8 | 1.4 | 1.6 |
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(a) Rate per 100,000 population.
(b) As recorded by police forces in all jurisdictions.
(c) Includes victims for whom age and/or sex was not specified.
(d) For Robbery and Blackmail/extortion where the victim can be an organisation, figures shown only include person victims. |
Source: Recorded Crime, Australia, 2001 (4510.0). |
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