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Selected crime profiles

Homicide

The homicide definition that the ABS uses is the unlawful killing of another person. Homicide statistics discussed here include the following categories of offences:

• murder: the willful killing of a person either intentionally or with reckless indifference to life
• manslaughter: the unlawful killing of a person:
  – without intent to kill, usually as a result of a careless, reckless, or negligent act; or
  – intentionally, but due to extreme provocation; or
  – when in a state of mind that impairs the capacity to understand or control one's actions.

This reflects categories recorded by police at the time of the homicide and does not necessarily take into account the final outcome of the court case.

Homicide does not include:

• attempted murder: the attempt to unlawfully kill another person by any means, act, or omission
• driving causing death: the unlawful killing of a person without intent to kill, caused through culpable, dangerous, or negligent driving.

Data from the ABS are supplemented with greater detail that the AIC collects through the National Homicide Monitoring Program. The ABS reports on calendar years; the AIC on financial years.

Data on the use of firearms in homicide are derived from victim data collected in the National Homicide Monitoring Program. Previous editions of Australian crime: facts & figures used ABS data on causes of death, but coding procedures used since 2004 (related to an increase in the number of open coroners' cases) have resulted in an undercounting in those data of firearm deaths due to assault (i.e. firearm homicide).

There were 282 homicides in Australia in 2007, with 1.3 victims per 100,000 of the population. Murder accounted for 90 percent of the victims recorded in 2007. The remainder were victims of manslaughter.

Source: Reference 1 and Reference 3

Location of homicides

• As in previous years, the majority (63%) of homicides took place in a home.
• The street/footpath was the second most common location of homicides (16%).
• Homicides were least likely to occur in transport (1%), outer residential (2%), retail (3%), and recreational (4%) locations.

Source: Reference 1

Victims of homicide

• Sixty-four percent of homicide victims in 2007 were male.
• Except in the 10- to 14-year age group, males had a higher risk of being a victim of homicide than did females.
• Similarly to past years, males in the 15–24 and 25–44 age groups were most at risk of being a victim of homicide in 2007.

Source: Reference 1 and Reference 2

Victim–offender relationship

• Male victims in 2006–07 were more likely than female victims (36% and 15% respectively) to have been killed by a friend or acquaintance, whereas female victims were more likely than male victims (56% and 10%, respectively) to have been killed by an intimate partner.
• Female victims were also more likely than male victims (21% and 15% respectively) to have been killed by a family member.
• Twenty-six percent of males, and four percent of females, were killed by a stranger.

Source: Reference 3

Weapon use

• In 2006–07, the most common weapon used in homicide was a knife (42%); in 2005–06, knives were used in 33 percent of homicides.
• A further 21 percent of homicides were committed using physical force; 10 percent, by firearms; nine percent, by blunt instruments.

Source: Reference 3

Trend in homicide

• The number of murder victims fluctuated slightly from 1993 to 2007, whereas manslaughter remained relatively stable.
• The number of murder victims peaked in 1999, at 344; the number of manslaughter victims peaked in 2002, at 48.
• The 253 murder and 29 manslaughter victims recorded in 2007 were the lowest annual number yet recorded.

Source: Reference 1

Trend in firearm homicides

• On average, 21 percent of homicide victims from 1989–90 to 2006–07 were killed by a firearm.
• The use of firearms in homicide has decreased over this period, however, from 26 percent in 1989–90 to 10 percent in 2006–07.

Source: Reference 3

Assault

The ABS defines assault as the direct infliction of force, injury or violence upon a person, including attempts or threats. It excludes sexual assault.

There were 176,427 recorded assaults in Australia in 2007, constituting 840 victims per 100,000 of the population.

ABS data for New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, South Australia and Western Australia have been aggregated for the following charts on the locations of sexual assaults and the age and sex of assault victims. These states represent 93 percent of all assaults recorded in 2007.

The ABS has not released data on victim–offender relationships since 2003, so these charts will not appear in this edition.

Location of assault

• Recorded assaults occurred most frequently in dwellings (42%), then on streets or footpaths (24%).
• Retail and other community locations accounted for 13 percent and nine percent respectively of recorded assaults.
• Recorded assaults were least likely to occur in recreational locations (6%) and residential locations peripheral to dwellings (3%).

Source: Reference 1

Victims of assault

• Fifty-eight percent of recorded assault victims in 2007 were male.
• Males had higher victimisation rates than females in all age groups.
• As in previous years, males and females aged 15 to 24 experienced assault at the highest rates.

Source: Reference 1 and Reference 2

Trend in assault

• The trend in assaults shows an average growth of five percent each year from 1995 to 2007, four times the annual growth of the Australian population in the same period.
• Assault is seasonal. The number of assaults peaks in the spring and summer months of October to February and is lowest from April to July.

Source: Reference 4

Sexual assault

The ABS defines sexual assault as a physical assault of a sexual nature, directed toward another person who:

• does not give consent, or
• gives consent as a result of intimidation or fraud; or
• is legally deemed incapable of giving consent because of youth or incapacity.

There were 19,781 recorded sexual assaults in Australia in 2007, with 94 victims per 100,000 of the population.

As with assault data, sexual assault data for 2007 have been aggregated using ABS data from New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, South Australia and Western Australia and included in the chart regarding details of location. Of all sexual assaults recorded in 2007, 95 percent occurred in these states. National data on the age and gender of victims of sexual assault cannot, as it was in previous years, be presented here, due to incompleteness of published state and territory age data, particularly on victims aged 45 or more. Similarly, the absence of more recent data on victim–offender relationships prevents presentation of the relevant chart this year.

Source: Reference 1

Location of sexual assaults

• Of sexual assaults recorded in 2007, 65 percent occurred in dwellings.
• Sexual assault was least likely to occur in retail locations (4%) and residential locations peripheral to dwellings (1%).

Source: Reference 1

Trend in sexual assault

• Reported sexual assaults have increased by 51 percent since 1995, at an average of four percent each year.
• The number of recorded sexual assaults by month is typically highest from January to March and from August to November and lowest from April to July.

Source: Reference 1

Robbery

Robbery is defined by the ABS as the unlawful taking of property, without consent, accompanied by force or threat of force. Robbery victims can be persons or organisations.

Types of robbery

Robbery is divided into two categories:

• armed robbery: robbery conducted with the use of a weapon; a weapon is any object used to cause fear or injury, and includes imitation weapons and implied weapons; for example, where a weapon is not seen by the victim but the offender claims to possess one
• unarmed robbery: robbery conducted without the use of a weapon.

Of the 17,988 robberies recorded during 2007, 57 percent were unarmed and 43 percent were committed with some type of weapon.

Source: Reference 1

Trend in robbery

• Robberies rose again in 2007 to 17,988 from 17,284 in 2006 but remains lower than recorded in the early 2000s.
• The proportion of robberies in 2007 involving a weapon (43%) was similar to that in 2006 (44%).
• The numbers of both armed and unarmed robberies peaked in March 2001. Armed and unarmed robberies follow similar monthly patterns.

Source: Reference 4

Location of robberies

• Robberies in 2007 predominantly occurred on streets/footpaths (46%) or in retail locations (20%).
• Robberies were less likely to occur in residential (10%), transport (8%) or recreational (5%) locations.

Source: Reference 1

Victims of robberies

• In all age groups, males were at higher risk than females of being a robbery victim. In 2007, the discrepancy between male and female rates was highest in those aged 15 to 19 and decreased with increasing age.
• Males aged 15 to 19 were more than twice as likely to become a victim of robbery as were males aged 25 or older and all females. The rate of victimisation of males aged 15 to 19 was 434 per 100,000.
• Females at highest risk were those aged 20 to 24, at 102 per 100,000, and next highest were those aged 15 to 19, at 94 per 100,000.

Source: Reference 1 and Reference 2

Armed robbery

There were 7,670 armed robberies recorded during 2007, a two percent increase from 2006.

• Twenty-five percent of armed robberies were committed against organisations, such as banks and chemists.
• The remaining 75 percent of armed robberies were of persons, who were more than three times as likely to be male as female.

Source: Reference 4

• Forty-seven percent of armed robberies in 2007 were perpetrated with a knife.
• Of armed robberies in 2007, 15 percent involved firearms.

Source: Reference 1

Unarmed robberies

There were 10,318 unarmed robberies recorded during 2007, six percent more than in 2006.

• Unarmed robberies were much less likely than armed robberies to target organisations: five percent of unarmed robberies, compared with 25 percent of armed robberies.
• Males were two and a half times as likely as females to be victims of unarmed robbery.

Source: Reference 4

Unlawful entry with intent

Unlawful entry with intent (UEWI) is defined by the ABS as the unlawful entry of a structure with the intent to commit an offence. UEWI offences include burglary, break and enter, and some stealing.

There were 248,423 recorded victims of UEWI offences in 2007, constituting a rate of 1,182 per 100,000.

Location of unlawful entry with intent

• UEWI is most likely to take place in residential locations. Sixty percent of UEWI offences occurred in dwellings in 2007, and an additional six percent occurred in outbuildings and other residential locations.
• Twelve percent of recorded UEWI offences took place in retail locations, and seven percent occurred in community locations.

Source: Reference 1

Trend in unlawful entry with intent

• There was an overall decline from 1995 to 2007 in the monthly number of UEWI offences.
• On average, 29 recorded incidents of UEWI in Australia occurred every hour in 2007.

Source: Reference 4

Motor vehicle theft

Motor vehicle theft (MVT) is the taking of a motor vehicle unlawfully or without permission. It excludes damaging, tampering with, and interfering with motor vehicles. The theft of motor vehicle parts or contents is included under the offence category of other theft. 'Motor vehicle' refers to cars, motorcycles, campervans, trucks, buses, and plant/equipment vehicles.

There were 70,650 motor vehicles reported stolen to police in 2007, with 478 vehicles stolen per 100,000 registered vehicles. This represents a six percent decrease on the number of thefts recorded in 2006. On average, there was one MVT every eight minutes in Australia in 2007.

Source: Reference 1 and Reference 5

Location of motor vehicle theft

• The majority of motor vehicle thefts occurred from the street or footpath (37%) or a residential location (35%).

Source: Reference 1

Trend in motor vehicle theft

• In August 2007, motor vehicle theft decreased to the lowest monthly level recorded since 1995, with 5,484 motor vehicles reported stolen.
• The incidence of monthly recorded motor vehicle theft peaked in March 2001, with 12,651 cars recorded stolen in that month.
• From March 2001 to December 2007, motor vehicle theft registered a 55 percent decrease. The overall annual decrease in the period 1995–2006 was 46 percent.
• In the period 1995–2007, the average recorded number of vehicles stolen per month was 9,273.

Source: Reference 4

Recovery rates

This section presents data on recovery rates of stolen vehicles from the National CARS (Comprehensive Auto-theft Research System) Project.

• In 2006–07, the national recovery rate for stolen vehicles was 73 percent, with 52,462 stolen vehicles recovered in that period.
• 47 percent of stolen vehicles were recovered within 24 hours of theft, and 87 percent of recoveries occurred within a fortnight.

Source: Reference 6

• The percentage of stolen vehicles that have been recovered decreased from 79 percent in 2002–03 to 73 percent in 2006–07.

Source: Reference 6

Theft and recovery by vehicle type

• As in previous years, a motorcycle was more likely to be stolen than any other type of vehicle, with a theft rate of 13 per 1,000 registrations.
• Vans and panel vans were the next most commonly stolen vehicle, at six per 1,000 registrations.
• Motorcycles were least likely to be recovered, with only 33 percent of stolen motorcycles being recovered, followed by plant/equipment vehicles (45%). Other vehicle types had a much higher recovery rate, such as 83 percent (buses), 81 percent (station wagons), and 78 percent (sedans).

Source: Reference 6

Other theft

The ABS defines other theft (stealing) as the taking of another person's property with the intention of permanently depriving the owner of the property illegally and without permission, but without force, threat of force, use of coercive measures, deceit or having gained unlawful entry to any structure even if the intent was to commit theft.

This offence includes such crimes as pickpocketing, bag snatching, stealing (including shoplifting), theft from a motor vehicle, theft of motor vehicle parts/accessories or petrol, stealing of stock/domestic animals, and theft of non-motorised vehicles/ boats/aircraft/bicycles. It is the largest of all the crime categories included in the national statistics.

There were 492,222 victims of other theft in 2007, a rate of 2,342 per 100,000 of the population.

Source: Reference 1

Location of other theft

• Other theft was again most likely to occur at retail locations (30%).
• Twelve percent of other theft occurred at dwellings; 16 percent, on streets and footpaths.

Source: Reference 1

Trend in other theft

• During 2007, there were on average 41,019 victims of recorded other theft per month, or almost one every minute.
• The monthly number of other thefts peaked in January 2001, at 61,786. From then to December 2007, the monthly number of thefts decreased by 35 percent.

Source: Reference 4

Fraud and deception-related crime

As information about fraud and deception-related crime is not collected by the ABS, this section presents data extracted from information published by state and territory police agencies. The classifications of fraud and deception-related offences include cheque and credit card fraud, fraudulent trade practices, social security fraud, forgery, counterfeiting, bribery and other deception offences. Precise definitions may vary by state.

Police record fraud offences by financial year. Fraud is believed to be one of the most under-reported offences, with fewer than 50 percent of incidents being reported to police or other authorities.

Table 5 Reported fraud offences from 1995–96 to 2006–07 (number)

1995–96	91,495
1996–97	101,256
1997–98	109,404
1998–99	112,209
1999–00	112,264
2000–01	106,141
2001–02	109,080
2002–03	108,940
2003–04	102,863
2004–05	89,198
2005–06	101,222
2006–07	95,606

• The trend in fraud reported to and recorded by police annually over the 12-year period has been relatively stable. The number of fraud offences in 2006–07 was the third lowest since 1995–96.

Source: References 7–14

Federal charges

The Australian Government Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) publishes annual statistics on summary and indictable offences against Commonwealth law that were dealt with in the preceding year. These statistics are presented as charges dealt with against Commonwealth Acts and Regulations, specifically the Criminal Code Act 1995 and the Crimes Act 1914.

In 2006–07, the DPP dealt with 5,922 people, on a total of 8,326 charges.

Source: Reference 15

Table 6 Charges dealt with in 2006–07 of offences against Commonwealth legislation (number)

	Summary	Indictable
Crimes Act 1914	95	136
Criminal Code Act 1995	3,798	418
All Acts and Regulations	7,245	1,081

• The most common summary charge was for offences against the Criminal Code Act 1995 (52%), followed by the Social Security (Administration) Act 1999 (12%) and the Fisheries Management Act 1991 (8%).
• The most common indictable charges were related to the Criminal Code Act 1995 (39%), the Crimes Act 1914 (13%), and non-Commonwealth drugs legislation (11%).
• Thirty-two percent of summary offences dealt with under the Crimes Act 1914 concerned imposition; 18 percent, administration of justice offences; and 16 percent, fraud. Sixty-two percent of charges for indictable offences under this Act concerned fraud, and nine percent concerned sexual conduct with children overseas.
• Fraudulent-conduct offences comprised 91 percent of all summary charges under the Criminal Code Act 1995. Of indictable offences, 42 percent concerned fraudulent-conduct offences; 18 percent, telecommunications offences; and 16 percent, serious drug offences.

Source: Reference 15

Drug arrests

This section provides an overview of drug arrest patterns for offenders from 1996–97 to 2006–07 as collated by the Australian Crime Commission in its Illicit drug data report series. Drug arrests usually come to the attention of police either through specific activity in drug law enforcement or coincidentally through an investigation into another matter, often related to property offences.

Arrest information is provided for the following types of drugs:

• cannabis
• heroin (and other opioids)
• amphetamines (including methylamphetamine and phenethylamines)
• cocaine
• other drugs (hallucinogens, steroids, and drugs not defined elsewhere).
• Cannabis arrests include expiation notices, drug infringement notices, and simple cannabis offence notices.
• Offenders involved in drug arrests are divided into two categories:
• consumers: persons charged with user offences (e.g. possessing or administering drugs for own personal use)
• providers: persons charged with supply offences (e.g. importation, trafficking, selling, cultivation, manufacture).

In the case of a person being charged with consumer and provider offences, the provider charge takes precedence and the person is counted only as a provider of that drug. A person charged with multiple drug offences is counted as a consumer or provider of each drug type.

• Males accounted for 77 percent of drug-consumer arrests and 81 percent of drug-provider arrests.

Source: Reference 16