Foreword

Produced every year, this compendium of information provides a ready reference on trends and patterns in crime and criminal justice in Australia. It covers different types of recorded crime, their place of occurrence, victim and offender details, the volume of matters dealt with by the criminal justice system and the outcomes and government expenditure on the criminal justice system.

Some trends remain constant; the most common crime is theft (excluding theft of motor vehicles) with just under half a million victims in 2007 and assault is the most common violent crime with 176,427 victims recorded in 2007. The majority of offenders are male, the most common penalty meted out by courts is the fine, and a large part of government expenditure on criminal justice is for law enforcement. Recorded crime data show that property crime offences are still declining while rates of recorded assault and sexual assault continue to rise. Victimisation survey data suggest that victims are much less inclined to report experience of a violent crime than a property crime.

Prison numbers have risen again, with 27,244 persons in prison on 30 June 2007 but the number serving community correction orders has stayed relatively steady: on any given day in 2006–07, 52,658 persons were serving such orders. Australia's recurrent expenditure on the criminal justice system in 2006–07 was around $9 billion, with 47,402 sworn state and territory police officers.

While the availability of national statistics on major crimes continues to improve, nationally consistent data on offenders and emerging crimes such as cybercrime, however, remain unavailable. Furthermore, recording issues affecting particular crimes, such as assault and sexual assault, limit our ability to confidently identify real trends in these crimes over time.

Nonetheless, this edition of Australian crime: facts & figures sees new data additions, for example, on the processing and finalisation of cases in children's courts and Australians' experience of personal fraud. The latter is derived from the first Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) survey to include questions on personal fraud, which estimates that, over a 12 month period, 806,000 or five percent of Australians aged 15 years or older experienced at least one incident of credit card fraud or identity theft or fell prey to scams.

Both administrative and survey-based collections serve as sources of data for Australian crime: facts & figures. The data here are primarily national figures; where national data are not available other sources are used. Readers looking for additional information should consult the appropriate publications and websites included in the reference section of this document.

The Australian Institute of Criminology (AIC) prepares publications from fact sheets to detailed reports, on a wide range of more specific crime and justice issues. For further information visit the AIC website, or contact the AIC directly.

Judy Putt
General Manager, Research
Australian Institute of Criminology