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Trends & Issues in Crime and Criminal Justice

No. 255: Family homicide in Australia

Jenny Mouzos and Catherine Rushforth
ISBN 0 642 53805 0 ; ISSN 0817-8542
June 2003

Abstract

Based on data held as part of the National Homicide Monitoring Program at the Australian Institute of Criminology, this paper examines the different circumstances and characteristics of family homicide in Australia over the period July 1989 to June 2002. The paper includes details about the murder of intimate partners, children, parents, siblings and other family members, and discusses the gender distribution of victims and offenders, weapons used, and motives for the murders. The paper finds that in Australia, almost two in five homicides occur between family members, with an average of 129 family homicides each year. The majority of family homicides occur between intimate partners (60 per cent), and three-quarters of intimate partner homicides involve males killing their female partners. On average, 25 children are killed each year by a parent, with children under the age of one at the highest risk of victimisation. The less common types of family homicide include children killing their parents (12 incidents per year), homicide between siblings (six incidents per year), and homicides between other family members (11 incidents per year). The paper also draws out the policy implications of the differences between the various types of family homicide, and highlights the need for specific prevention strategies to target these homicides.

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