Armed robbery in Australia : weapon use by location

• Crime facts info, no. 127
• ISSN 1445-7288
• Canberra: Australian Institute of Criminology, 18 July 2006 (online only)

The National Armed Robbery Monitoring Program (NARMP) began in 2003, with the goal of providing information that would permit the detailed, national-level exploration of armed robbery, including trends in weapon use. The data, based on incidences of reported armed robbery, are collected by police forces in the jurisdictions and passed on to the Australian Institute of Criminology, which administers the NARMP. The chart below shows a breakdown of victims of armed robbery in 2004 by selected locations where the robbery occurred, and type of weapon used. It shows that the percentage of armed robberies involving firearms was highest in robberies of licensed premises (44%), wholesalers (42%), banks (41%) and pharmacies (31%). Firearms were much less commonly used in community locations, such as recreational (5%), street/footpath (7%) or transport locations (8%). They were also relatively uncommon in armed robberies of service stations (9%) or corner stores and supermarkets (16%). Knives were most likely to be used in armed robberies of service stations (65%), corner stores and supermarkets (63%), on the street/footpath (59%), and on transport (58%). Syringe use was most likely in armed robberies targeting pharmacies (13%) and least common in robberies of licensed premises (1%).

Related links

• Full report: Armed robbery in Australia : 2004 National Armed Robbery Monitoring Program annual report
• Project information: National Armed Robbery Monitoring Program
• Topic: Robbery
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