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Australian Crime : facts and figures 2004

3. Crime victimisation

The majority of industrialised countries conduct crime victimisation surveys to estimate the extent of certain crimes and the percentage reported to the police. These data are used to supplement police statistics and are particularly useful for examining crimes that have low rates of reporting to police, such as violent crime.

In Australia there are various sources of crime victimisation data. The Australian Bureau of Statistics conducts the National crime and safety survey on a regular basis, most recently in 2002. The Australian Institute of Criminology has been responsible for the Australian component of the International crime victimisation survey (ICVS) which is conducted at four-year intervals, most recently in 2004 (results to be released in 2005). The ICVS was funded through the Australian Government Attorney-General's Department and the Department of Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs.

Specialised victim surveys have been designed to interview women about their experiences of violence. In 1996, the Australian Bureau of Statistics conducted the Women's safety survey, the first Australian survey to focus on women's experiences of violence. In 2002-2003, the AIC conducted the Australian component of the International violence against women survey (IVAWS). The IVAWS is part of an international effort to assess the prevalence and nature of violence against women around the world. IVAWS was funded through the Office of the Status of Women.

The method developed for crime victimisation surveys has also been extended to address crimes of specific interest. Examples are the Farm crime survey conducted by the AIC in 2003, and the 2004 Australian computer crime and security survey, conducted by AusCERT, the Australian High Tech Crime Centre and various state, territory and federal police agencies.

Rates of criminal victimisation

The ABS National crime and safety survey provides the most current available estimates of crime victimisation. Figure 42 shows that rates of household victimisation were similar in the 1998 and 2002 surveys.

Reporting crime to the police

Victimisation surveys are useful for assessing the extent of crime that is not reported to the police. Surveys find a wide variation in reporting rates depending on the type of crime. According to the National crime and safety survey, in 2002 victims reported to police:

  • 95% of motor vehicle thefts;
  • 75% of break-ins;
  • 31% of attempted break-ins;
  • 50% of robberies;
  • 31% of assaults; and
  • 20% of sexual assaults.

Primary reasons given by victims for not reporting break-ins were they thought there was nothing the police could do about it, and the incident was not serious enough. Main reasons for not reporting assault were that the incident was not serious enough to warrant police involvement, it was a personal matter, there was nothing the police could do, or there was a fear of reprisal from the offender.

Source: Reference 22

Women's reports of victimisation

IVAWS provides up-to-date data on the level of self-reported physical and sexual violence against women. A total of 6,677 women between 18 and 69 years of age were interviewed by telephone in 2002-2003. This survey defines physical violence as including one or more of the following:

  • threats of physical harm in a way that frightened;
  • being the target of a thrown object or being hit with something in a way that hurt or frightened;
  • being pushed or grabbed or having an arm twisted or hair pulled;
  • being slapped, kicked, bit or hit with a fist;
  • an attempt to strangle or suffocate, burn or scald on purpose;
  • threatened with or having a gun or knife used; and
  • any other physical violence.

Sexual violence is defined as including one or more of the following:

  • forced sexual intercourse;
  • attempted forced intercourse;
  • unwanted sexual touching that was distressing;
  • sexual assault while under the influence of drugs given without the victim's knowledge;
  • forced or attempted intercourse with someone else, including being forced to have sex for money or in exchange for goods; and
  • any other sexual violence.

The survey included women living in private dwellings; it excluded the homeless, those living in institutions, shelters or other special accommodation. These women were asked about experiences with violence since the age of 16. Figure 44 presents the percentage of women who reported experiencing violence in the past 12 months.

Source: Reference 23

Reporting to police and others

Rates of reporting to police tend to be lower for partner violence and sexual assault compared with other crimes.

Figure 45 shows the percentage of crimes of violence against women that were reported to the police, other agencies and individuals.

Farm crime

Studies of crime typically focus on the national or state/territory level or on large metropolitan areas. The 2003 Farm crime survey is distinctive in its focus on rural properties and the types of crimes that affect farming operations. Figure 46 illustrates rates of various types of crimes against farms. The Farm crime survey was funded by the Australian Government Attorney-General's Department.

Cybercrime

As few police agencies identify cybercrimes separately, this section presents the results of the 2004 Australian computer crime and security survey, conducted by AusCERT, the Australian High Tech Crime Centre and various state, territory and federal police agencies. Around 240 organisations from manufacturing, information technology, federal and state government, utilities, finance and education sectors responded to the survey.

These data are indicative only as the sample is not necessarily representative. Caution therefore should be taken when using the following statistics.

Differences published in the 2003 edition of Facts and figures may be due to differences in the organisations participating each year. Forty-nine per cent (approximately 117) of these organisations reported a harmful computer security incident in the 2004 survey.

Source: Reference 25