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Trends & issues in crime and criminal justice

No. 302: Experiences of crime in two selected migrant communities

Holly Johnson
ISBN 0 642 53888 3 ; ISSN 0817-8542
August 2005

Abstract

Australia's immigration rate is among the highest in the world. Migrants face special challenges integrating into a new country, especially if their language, skin colour, religion or cultural practices set them apart from mainstream society. To assess the experiences of crime among migrants, the Australian component of the 2004 International Crime Victimisation Survey oversampled migrants who were born or whose parents were born in Vietnam or the Middle East. The selected migrant and main community samples reported comparable rates of victimisation overall, but lower rates of personal crime were reported by the migrant sample. However, the migrant samples were more likely to feel that assaults and threats perpetrated against them were racially-motivated, and were more likely to be worried about experiencing a racially-based attack in the future. Higher proportions of migrants, particularly women, also feel unsafe walking alone in the local area after dark.

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