4530.0 - Crime Victimisation, Australia, 2012-13 Quality Declaration 
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 12/02/2014   
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BREAK-IN AND ATTEMPTED BREAK-IN Endnote 1

BREAK-IN

What is a break-in?

An act of unauthorised forced entry into a home or other place where a victim permanently resides.

Break-in includes:

  • forced entry to garages, sheds or any detached secure buildings such as games/hobby rooms and granny flats
  • caravans where it was the victim's permanent residence.
Break-in excludes:
Prevalence and reporting rate for 2012-13 (see Data cube 1, Table 1)

An estimated 239,700 Australian households (2.7% of all households) experienced at least one break-in during the 12 months prior to interview in 2012–13. Just over three-quarters of households that experienced break-in (78%) reported the most recent incident to the police.

Characteristics of break-in incidents (see Data cube 4, Table 17)

This section discusses characteristics of households' most recent incident of break-in in the 12 months prior to interview.

In the most recent incident of break-in experienced by households:
  • the majority of households had property stolen (73% or 175,600 households)
  • the most common type of property stolen was money (21% or 49,100 households) followed by jewellery (19%, or an estimated 44,300 households)
  • just under half of all households had property damaged (46% or 111,200 households)
  • around one in ten households that were a victim of break-in had the offender/s confront someone in the most recent incident (11%, or 25,200 households)
  • where the incident was not reported to police, the main reason given was:
    • the incident was considered too trivial/unimportant (8.5% or 20,500 households)
    • it was believed the police would have been unwilling/unable to do anything (6.3% or 15,100 households).

ATTEMPTED BREAK-IN

What is an attempted break-in?

For this survey, attempted break-in is defined as an incident where an attempt was made to forcibly enter a home.

Attempted break-in includes:
  • attempts to forcibly enter a caravan (if the caravan was the respondent’s permanent residence), garage, shed or any other detached secure building such as games/hobby rooms or granny flats
  • incidents where a person saw someone acting suspiciously around the property if it was suspected that their intent was to steal property.

Attempted break-in excludes:
  • incidents that resulted in an actual break-in (for example, where someone attempted to break in through a door but then gained entry through a window)
  • attempts to forcibly enter a motor vehicle.

Prevalence and reporting rate (see Data cube 1, Table 1)

In the 12 months prior to interview in 2012–13, an estimated 171,000 Australian households (1.9% of all households) experienced at least one incident of attempted break-in. Under half (43%) of households reported the most recent incident of attempted break-in to police.

Characteristics of attempted break-in incidents (see Data cube 4, Table 18)

This section discusses characteristics of the most recent incident for households that were victims of attempted break-in during the 12 months prior to interview.

In the most recent incident of attempted break-in experienced by households:
  • the most commonly identified evidence of attempted break-in was damage to doors or windows (54% or 93,100 households), followed by seeing or hearing someone trying to break-in (16%, or 26,700 households).
  • where the incident was not reported to police, the main reason given was:
    • the incident was considered too trivial/unimportant (25% or 43,500 households)
    • it was believed there was nothing the police could do (13% or 22,900 households).

ENDNOTE

1 All comparisons discussed have been tested for statistical significance with a 95% level of confidence that there is a real difference between the two populations being tested. Only data with a relative standard error (RSE) of less than 25% is referred to in the text of this publication. For further information, refer to the Technical Note.