BREAK-IN AND ATTEMPTED BREAK-IN ^{Endnote 1}

BREAK-IN

What is a break-in?

In this survey, a break-in is defined as an act of unauthorised forced entry into a home or other place where a person 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 person's permanent residence.

Break-in excludes:

• forced entry to motor vehicles or front or rear yards
• incidents of attempted break-in.

Who experienced a break-in during 2015-16? (Table 6)

In the 12 months prior to interview an estimated 2.5% of Australian households (225,700) experienced at least one break-in.

What else do we know about break-in incidents?

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

As information is only collected in relation to the most recent incident, the findings are not necessarily representative of all incidents experienced by a household in the last 12 months prior to interview (see Technical Note).

Reporting rate (Table 20)

For three-quarters (77% or 173,300) of households, the most recent incident of break-in was reported to police.

Around one in ten households (9% or 20,500 households) that experienced a break-in did not report the incident to police as it was considered to be too trivial/unimportant, while a further 8% (18,100 households) believed that the police would have been unwilling/unable to do anything.

Other selected characteristics (Table 20)

In the most recent incident of break-in experienced by households:

• the majority of households had property stolen (75% or 168,700 households)
• personal items were stolen in a quarter of households that experienced break-in (26% or 59,400 households)
• just under half of all households that experienced break-in had property damaged (46% or 103,400 households)
• around one in ten households that experienced a break-in involved the offender/s confronting someone (11% or 25,000 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.

Who experienced an attempted break-in during 2015-16? (Table 6)

In the 12 months prior to interview in 2015–16, an estimated 2.1% of Australian households (185,900) experienced at least one incident of attempted break-in.

What else do we know about attempted break-in incidents?

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

As information is only collected in relation to the most recent incident, the findings are not necessarily representative of all incidents experienced by a household in the last 12 months prior to interview (see Technical Note).

Reporting rate (Table 21)

Just under half (44% or 80,900) of households had their most recent incident of attempted break in reported to police.

About one-quarter (24% or 43,700 households) did not report the most recent incident to police because the incident was considered to be too trivial/unimportant. A further 14% (26,400 households) believed that there was nothing the police could do.

Other selected characteristics (Table 21)

In the most recent incident of attempted break-in experienced by households, the most commonly identified evidence of attempted break-in was damage to or tampering with doors or windows (45%), followed by seeing or hearing someone trying to break-in (23%).

ENDNOTE

Endnote 1 All comparisons discussed have been tested for statistical significance with a 95% level of confidence that there is a real difference in the two populations being tested. Only data with a relative standard error (RSE) of less than 25% are referred to in the text of this publication and these estimates are considered sufficiently reliable for general use. To determine whether there is a statistical difference between any other two estimates, significance testing should be undertaken. For further information, refer to the Technical Note.