Crime victimisation in Australia : key results of the 2004 International Crime Victimisation Survey

Holly Johnson
ISBN 0 642 53881 6 ; ISSN 1326-6004
Canberra: Australian Institute of Criminology: 2005
(Research and public policy series, no. 64)

Foreword

The task of measuring crime in society is not straightforward. Administrative data are available to assess the number and types of crimes known to the police, accused persons appearing before court and those who are convicted, and convicted persons serving prison sentences. However, police cannot detect all offences and largely depend on victims to report crimes to them. They also do not solve all crimes that come to their attention. As a result, administrative statistics available through the records of police, courts or prisons do not capture the full extent of crime, victims or offenders in society.

In 2004 the Australian Institute of Criminology managed the Australian component of the International Crime Victim Survey (ICVS). ICVS is an international project involving approximately 60 countries worldwide. It is a general but wide-ranging survey focusing on experiences with three personal crimes and six household crimes, details about the impact of these crimes and whether they were reported to the police, and perceptions of personal safety. There is no other national survey of this scope and detail undertaken in Australia. More importantly the AIC is able to modify and adapt the instrument so that it both serves its purpose of providing comparable international data while focusing on some specific policy issues that have been identified by stakeholders.

This report contains many interesting findings. Of particular note is the decline in the percentage of people who reported being a recent victim of crime in 2004 as compared to 2000. This finding is consistent with police data and follows trends that have been observed in other countries. Also of note is that few socio-demographic characteristics were predictors of experiencing crime more than once. This finding raises interesting questions about whether it is the place where a person lives, rather than their personal characteristics, that reduces or enhances their risk of being a victim of crime. To answer this question individual data on crime victimisation needs to be linked to the characteristics of local communities. The availability of such data in a timely and accessible form should be a priority if we are to further our understanding of crime victimisation.

Police, policy-makers and communities have found empirical data about crime victimisation to be of direct practical benefit. For example, victimisation surveys have been used in building crime reduction strategies at the local level through knowledge about the correlates of victimisation, about who is at risk and under what circumstances. Knowledge about the risks associated with repeat victimisation has led to a better understanding of how crime is concentrated, and how resources might best be employed to have the greatest impact on the crime problem. Our understanding of fear and its manifestations has also progressed enormously with the help of victimisation surveys. Future analyses of the 2004 ICVS will provide a more detailed examination of these and other topics.

Toni Makkai
Director
Australian Institute of Criminology