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CRIMES RECORDED BY POLICE
The number of victims recorded by Australian police declined in most offence categories in 2004 when compared with 2003. Victims of the following offence categories recorded a decrease: homicide and related offences (18%); robbery (16%); unlawful entry with intent (13%); other theft (12%), motor vehicle theft (11%); and blackmail/extortion (4%). Victims of kidnapping/abduction recorded an increase (10%). Variation from year to year is likely to be higher for both homicide and related offences and kidnapping/abduction due to small numbers.
Graph 11.13 shows the percentage change between 2003 and 2004 in the number of victims of selected offences.
Other theft (which includes theft from persons, retail premises and motor vehicles) continues to have the largest number of victims. In 2004, there were 547,800 recorded victims of other theft, a decrease of just over 76,000 since 2003 (table 11.14).
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 rate for robbery (82 per 100,000 population) was the lowest since 1996.
11.14 VICTIMS AND VICTIMISATION RATES(a), By selected offences
|
 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 |
|
NUMBER |
|
| Homicide and related offences | 969 | 1,020 | 1,066 | 979 | 958 | 789 |
| Murder | 344 | 316 | 310 | 318 | 302 | 256 |
| Attempted murder | 360 | 393 | 459 | 399 | 361 | 307 |
| Manslaughter | 41 | 46 | 37 | 48 | 39 | 37 |
| Driving causing death | 224 | 265 | 260 | 214 | 256 | 189 |
| Kidnapping/abduction | 766 | 695 | 767 | 706 | 696 | 768 |
| Robbery | 22,606 | 23,336 | 26,591 | 20,989 | 19,709 | 16,490 |
| Armed robbery | 9,452 | 9,483 | 11,233 | 7,840 | 7,189 | 5,993 |
| Unarmed robbery | 13,154 | 13,853 | 15,358 | 13,149 | 12,520 | 10,497 |
| Blackmail/extortion | 254 | 255 | 358 | 355 | 386 | 370 |
| Unlawful entry with intent | 415,735 | 436,968 | 435,754 | 394,323 | 354,020 | 308,368 |
| Property theft(b) | 322,983 | n.a. | 325,220 | 292,748 | 262,657 | 224,638 |
| Other(b) | 92,752 | n.a. | 110,534 | 101,575 | 91,363 | 83,730 |
| Motor vehicle theft(c) | 129,552 | 138,912 | 139,894 | 113,460 | 98,298 | 87,916 |
| Other theft(d) | 612,559 | 681,268 | 700,137 | 680,799 | 624,036 | 547,800 |
|
RATE(e) |
|
| Homicide and related offences | 5.1 | 5.3 | 5.5 | 5.0 | 4.8 | 3.9 |
| Murder | 1.8 | 1.6 | 1.6 | 1.6 | 1.5 | 1.3 |
| Attempted murder | 1.9 | 2.1 | 2.4 | 2.0 | 1.8 | 1.5 |
| Manslaughter | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.2 |
| Driving causing death | 1.2 | 1.4 | 1.3 | 1.1 | 1.3 | 0.9 |
| Kidnapping/abduction | 4.0 | 3.6 | 4.0 | 3.6 | 3.5 | 3.8 |
| Robbery | 119.4 | 121.8 | 137.0 | 106.9 | 99.2 | 82.0 |
| Armed robbery | 49.9 | 49.5 | 57.9 | 39.9 | 36.2 | 29.8 |
| Unarmed robbery | 69.5 | 72.3 | 79.1 | 67.0 | 63.0 | 52.2 |
| Blackmail/extortion | 1.3 | 1.3 | 1.8 | 1.8 | 1.9 | 1.8 |
| Unlawful entry with intent | 2,195.7 | 2,281.3 | 2,244.9 | 2,007.9 | 1,781.7 | 1,533.5 |
| Property theft(b) | 1,705.8 | n.a. | 1,675.5 | 1,490.7 | 1,321.9 | 1,117.1 |
| Other(b) | 489.9 | n.a. | 569.5 | 517.2 | 459.8 | 416.4 |
| Motor vehicle theft(c) | 684.2 | 725.2 | 720.7 | 577.7 | 494.7 | 437.2 |
| Other theft(d) | 3,235.2 | 3,556.8 | 3,607.0 | 3,466.7 | 3,140.6 | 2,724.2 |
(a) Recorded by police in all jurisdictions. Depending on the type of offence recorded, a victim may be a person, a premise, an organisation or a motor vehicle. (b) A change in the legislation related to unlawful entry with intent (UEWI) offences in South Australia resulted in an inability to provide UEWI disaggregated into property theft and other for 2000. (c) Prior to 2002, Northern Territory police incorrectly included theft of motor vehicle parts and contents and some theft n.e.c. in the count of motor vehicle theft. Since 2002, these offences were correctly included in the other theft offence category. (d) Prior to 2004, counts of UEWI involving the taking of property were included in this offence category as well as in other theft for South Australia. The 2003 data for other theft have been revised to exclude counts of UEWI involving the taking of property, resulting in a break in the time series for other theft. (e) Per 100,000 persons.
Source: Recorded Crime - Victims, Australia, 2004 (4510.0). |
PERSONAL CRIME
Kidnapping/abduction has remained stable at approximately 4 victims per 100,000 persons since 1999. There were 256 victims of murder in 2004, a rate of 1 murder victim per 100,000 persons. The homicide and related offences rate continued to decline from approximately 5 victims per 100,000 persons in 2003 to 4 victims per 100,000 persons in 2004.
PROPERTY CRIME
Unlawful entry with intent (UEWI) and other theft were the most frequently occurring property offences. The UEWI victimisation rate decreased by 30%, from 2,196 victims per 100,000 persons in 1999 to 1,534 victims per 100,000 persons in 2004. The victimisation rate for motor vehicle theft was at its lowest rate since 1993. The 2004 motor vehicle theft rate of 437 victims per 100,000 persons was 12% lower than in the previous year (495 victims per 100,000 persons) and 36% lower than in 1999 (684 victims per 100,000 persons). The victimisation rate for other theft decreased by 13% between 2003 and 2004.
CHARACTERISTICS OF VICTIMS
Males aged 15-19 years had a victimisation rate of 3.4 per 100,000 persons for driving causing death, which was almost three times the rate for females in this age group and more than three times the rate for the general population. (table 11.16).
The victimisation rate for kidnapping/abduction was highest in the 15-19 year age group at 13.2 per 100,000 persons, which was more than three times the rate for the general population. In particular, females in this age group were four times (21.9 per 100,000 persons) more likely to be victims of kidnapping/abduction than females in all age groups. Males in this same age group were twice (4.5 per 100,000 persons) as likely to be victims of kidnapping/abduction than males in all age groups. The highest rate for male victims of kidnapping/abduction was in the 10-14 year age group (6.6 per 100,000 persons).
People aged 15-19 years were more than three times likely to be victims of robbery than the general population. The victimisation rate for robbery was highest in the 20-24 year age group for females (100.8 per 100,000 persons) but highest in the 15-19 year age group for males (342.2 per 100,000 persons), as shown in table 11.15.
11.15 VICTIMISATION RATES(a) OF SELECTED CRIMES(b) - 2004
|
| Offence category |
|
|
| Age group (years) | Murder | Attempted
murder | Driving
causing death | Kidnapping/
abduction | Robbery(c) | Blackmail/
extortion(c) |
|
MALES |
|
| 0-9 | 1.2 | 0.5 | 0.2 | 3.4 | 2.8 | - |
| 10-14 | - | - | - | 6.6 | 77.4 | 0.6 |
| 15-19 | 1.3 | 2.8 | 3.4 | 4.5 | 342.2 | 3.3 |
| 20-24 | 1.9 | 3.5 | 1.9 | 3.8 | 258.5 | 3.6 |
| 25-34 | 1.9 | 4.7 | 0.8 | 2.6 | 129.1 | 2.9 |
| 35-44 | 2.7 | 2.7 | 0.6 | 0.8 | 70.5 | 3.0 |
| 45-54 | 1.5 | 2.1 | 0.9 | 0.9 | 48.7 | 2.6 |
| 55-64 | 0.9 | 1.1 | 0.6 | 0.3 | 31.8 | 1.7 |
| 65 and over | 0.8 | - | 0.5 | - | 16.6 | 1.2 |
| All ages(d) | 1.6 | 2.2 | 0.9 | 2.3 | 93.4 | 2.2 |
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FEMALES |
|
| 0-9 | 0.8 | 0.4 | - | 4.2 | 0.8 | - |
| 10-14 | 0.4 | - | - | 13.2 | 17.6 | 0.4 |
| 15-19 | 0.9 | 0.9 | 1.2 | 21.9 | 95.6 | 1.6 |
| 20-24 | 0.9 | 0.7 | 1.0 | 11.2 | 100.8 | 3.2 |
| 25-34 | 1.2 | 1.5 | 0.3 | 4.7 | 64.5 | 1.2 |
| 35-44 | 1.1 | 1.0 | 0.3 | 2.1 | 41.8 | 1.1 |
| 45-54 | 0.9 | 0.9 | 0.6 | 0.9 | 37.3 | 1.1 |
| 55-64 | 0.6 | 0.3 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 30.6 | 0.7 |
| 65 and over | 0.6 | 0.2 | - | - | 21.3 | 0.4 |
| All ages(d) | 0.9 | 0.8 | 0.4 | 5.2 | 43.0 | 1.0 |
|
PERSONS |
|
| 0-9 | 1.0 | 0.5 | 0.1 | 3.8 | 1.8 | - |
| 10-14 | 0.2 | - | - | 9.8 | 48.5 | 0.5 |
| 15-19 | 1.1 | 1.9 | 2.3 | 13.2 | 222.9 | 2.5 |
| 20-24 | 1.4 | 2.3 | 1.5 | 7.4 | 182.1 | 3.4 |
| 25-34 | 1.6 | 3.1 | 0.6 | 3.6 | 97.3 | 2.0 |
| 35-44 | 1.9 | 1.9 | 0.5 | 1.4 | 56.3 | 2.1 |
| 45-54 | 1.2 | 1.5 | 0.7 | 0.9 | 43.2 | 1.9 |
| 55-64 | 0.8 | 0.7 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 31.3 | 1.2 |
| 65 and over | 0.7 | 0.1 | 0.2 | - | 19.5 | 0.8 |
| All ages(d) | 1.3 | 1.5 | 0.9 | 3.8 | 68.9 | 1.7 |
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(a) Victims per 100,000 persons.
(b) As recorded by police forces in all jurisdictions.
(c) Refers to person victims only and therefore does not include organisations as victims.
(d) Includes victims for whom age and/or sex was not specified.
Source: Recorded Crime - Victims, Australia, 2004 (4510.0). |
WEAPONS USED AGAINST VICTIMS OF CRIME
In 2004, a weapon was most likely to have been used in attempted murder (73%) and murder (59%). A knife was the most common type of weapon used and was involved in 32% of attempted murders, 28% of murders, 18% of robberies and 6% of kidnappings/abductions. A firearm was involved in 23% of attempted murders, 13% of murders, 6% of robberies and 2% of kidnappings/abductions.
The proportion of murders involving a weapon peaked in 1996 at 78%, while the proportion of attempted murders involving a weapon peaked in 1997 at 87%. The proportion of robberies in which a weapon was used increased from 36% in 1995 to 46% in 1998 and has since generally declined to 36% in 2004 (graph 11.16).
11.17 VICTIMS(a), By use of weapon in commission of selected offences - 2004
|
| | Offence category |
| |
|
| Weapon used | Murder | Attempted
murder | Kidnapping/
abduction | Robbery |
|
NUMBER |
|
| Weapon used | | | | |
| Firearm | 33 | 70 | 18 | 903 |
| Knife | 71 | 98 | 48 | 2,953 |
| Syringe | - | - | - | 327 |
| Other weapon | 36 | 45 | 19 | 1,077 |
| Total(b) | 152 | 225 | 98 | 5,993 |
| No weapon used(c) | 105 | 82 | 669 | 10,497 |
| Total | 257 | 307 | 767 | 16,490 |
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PROPORTION (%) |
|
| Weapon used | | | | |
| Firearm | 12.8 | 22.8 | 2.3 | 5.5 |
| Knife | 27.6 | 31.9 | 6.3 | 17.9 |
| Syringe | - | - | - | 2.0 |
| Other weapon | 14.0 | 14.7 | 2.5 | 6.5 |
| Total(b) | 59.1 | 73.3 | 12.8 | 36.3 |
| No weapon used(c) | 40.9 | 26.7 | 87.2 | 63.7 |
| Total | 100.0 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 100.0 |
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(a) For the offence of robbery, a victim may be a person or an organisation.
(b) Includes offences where a weapon was used but was not further defined.
(c) Includes offences where weapon use was not known or not stated.
Source: Recorded Crime - Victims, Australia, 2004 (4510.0). |
Firearms used in attempted murders in 2004 accounted for 23% of offences, marginally above its low of 19% in 1998, and well below its high of 32% in 1999. The proportion of murders involving a firearm was 13% in 2004, decreasing significantly since 1996 when 32% of murders involved a firearm. The proportion of robberies involving a firearm, decreased from a high of 10% in 1997 to 6% in 2000, and has been stable in the period 2000-04, at around 6%. (graph 11.18).
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