The purpose of the Crime and Safety Survey is to provide a picture of the way that crime affects the Australian community. The survey focuses on those categories of more serious crime that affect the largest number of people: household break-in, motor vehicle theft, assault (including sexual assault) and robbery. It measures the extent of crime in our community, including the number of persons and households victimised and the number of crimes reported to police. It also provides information on the socio-economic profile of victims and non-victims, and the characteristics of offences.
The Crime and Safety Survey, a survey of households, was conducted nationally by the Australian Bureau of Statistics in April 2002. The survey was also conducted in 1993 and 1998. It has been conducted annually since 1990 in New South Wales; in 1999 and 2000 in Western Australia; in 1999 in South Australia; and in 1995 in all States and Territories except Tasmania and the Northern Territory.
The survey provides data on selected household and personal crimes against persons aged 15 years and over for the 12-month period prior to the survey, and the risk factors associated with crime victimisation. The 2002 survey collected data on sexual assault for males and females aged 18 years and over (from previous surveys data were only available concerning sexual assaults against females). The 2002 survey results were published in June 2003, and this chapter contains some of the data from this survey.