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Hot topic : Homicide
Homicide is the killing of one person by another, whether intended (murder) or not (manslaughter). Not all homicide is unlawful; killing in self-defence, or in the line of police duty, for example, may not be a crime.
Murder, attempted murder (including assault), manslaughter and infanticide are the most serious crimes. Information should be passed on to the police or left anonomously with Crime Stoppers, on 1800 333 000.
Murder and manslaughter, 1993-2005, rate per 100,000 persons
Source: Australian Institute of Criminology 2006. Australian crime : facts and figures 2005.
The homicide rate in Australia is around 1.4 deaths per 100,000 population and compares favourably internationally (South Africa = 49.6, Russia = 20.1, USA = 5.5, France = 1.7, UK = 1.4). The 2004-05 year recorded a total of 249 incidents of homicide, committed by 286 offenders, resulting in 267 victims. The incidence of homicide decreased by 14 percent compared with the previous year and has continued a downward trend since 2001-02.
Homicide in Australia
Homicide, as the most serious criminal offence, is a matter of great public interest and concern. Popular television shows can give a misleading impression of homicide, while what occurs in reality in Australia is quite different.
The majority of homicide incidents in Australia are murder (84%), followed by manslaughter (11%) and infanticide (5%). In Australia, males constitute 85 percent of offenders and 67 percent of victims of homicide. The mean age of offenders is 34 years with young adult males featuring as both victims and offenders. Victims have a mean age of 36 years.
The Australian Institute of Criminology has been actively involved in homicide research for many years. The National Homicide Monitoring Program (NHMP), the focus of this research, has been operating since 1990. NHMP is the most complete data source in Australia on homicide and is supported by all of Australia's state and territory police. The collection of the data is subject to rigorous quality assurance processes.
This page draws together all of the Institute's homicide related material and highlights other significant homicide resources available online.
More charts/fact sheets
- Homicide statistics
- Trends in homicide incidents (number), 1990-2005
- Homicide victimisation by age and gender (rate), 2005
- Homicide offending by gender and age, 2005
- Trends in homicide offending (percent), 1990-2005
- Trends in homicide victimisation (rate), 1990-2005
- Relationship between victim and offender (percent) 2005
- Selected crime profiles : homicide (Chapter 2 from Australian crime : facts and figures 2005)
- Homicide, type of location, 2004
- Homicide victims, gender and relationship to offender, percentages, 2003-04
- Number of homicides, 1993-2004
- Homicides involving firearms as a percentage of total homicides, 1915-2003
- Homicides in Australia 2004-05: weapon type
- Homicide victims by alleged motive, per cent, 2003-04
- Homicide victims : cause of death 2003-04
AIC publications
- Homicide in Australia : 2004-05 National Homicide Monitoring Program (NHMP) annual report (2006)
- The murder of overseas visitors in Australia (2006)