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Trends & Issues in Crime and Criminal Justice

No. 266: Results from the 2001-2002 National Farm Crime Survey

Marissa McCall
ISBN 0 642 53820 3 ; ISSN 0817-8542
October 2003

Abstract

In order to understand the significance of farm crime in Australia, the Australian Institute of Criminology is conducting three annual surveys on farm crime. This paper summarises the results from the second National Farm Crime Survey (NFCS). A total of 1309 broadacre and dairy farms were surveyed about their experiences of crime between 1 July 2001 and 30 June 2002. Overall, 13 per cent of these farms experienced crime, a slight decrease from the number that experienced farm crime in the first survey. In financial terms, farm crime was estimated to cost broadacre and dairy farmers $72 million in 2001-2002. The most common type of farm crime experienced was livestock theft (6 per cent of all farms) followed by theft (5 per cent) and vandalism / damage (3 per cent). Moreover, victims from particular types of farms experienced different types of crime. Large and remote farms more commonly experienced higher levels of livestock theft whereas smaller and highly accessible farms more commonly experienced higher levels of damage / vandalism. The majority of farms were only victimised once during the survey period. However, of the farms that were victimised, 28 per cent were repeat victims. Only half of all crime experienced on farms was reported to the police. Based on the results of the survey, the next NFCS will expand its scope to measure the effectiveness of crime prevention strategies on farms.

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