Media Release: 1 in 5 criminal offences in Victoria were family violence-related in the year ending 31 March 2021

The Crime Statistics Agency (CSA) released the Victorian recorded crime statistics for the year ending 31 March 2021 today.

The recorded offences rate decreased 1.8% to 7,950.6 per 100,000 Victorians in the last 12 months, as did the number of offences, down 1.8% to 532,271. One in 5 offences recorded were family violence-related (21.1%). Despite overall decreases in criminal offences recorded, family violence-related offences increased 11.3% to 112,432 offences in the year ending 31 March 2021. The increase was particularly driven by breaches of family violence orders (up 18.4% to 53,285 offences) and family violence-related common assaults (up 5.9% to 16,264 offences).

In the 12 months to 31 March 2021 the criminal incident rate decreased 5.0% to 5,792.5 per 100,000 Victorians as did the number of incidents, down 5.1% or 20,630 incidents to 387,793. Of these, 64,402 incidents were family violence-related, up 6.1% from the last year.

Alleged offender incidents increased by 30.6% (48,856 incidents) to 208,294 in the last 12 months, the rate increasing by 30.5% to 3,539.4 per 100,000 Victorians. There were 37,031 alleged offender incidents related to public health (the vast majority were for breaches of CHO directions).

Victim reports decreased by 18.4% to 265,773, the lowest since 2011, as did the victimisation rate, down 15.5% to 2,982.2 reports per 100,000 Victorians. Victims experiencing property and deception-related offences as their most serious offence declined by the greatest number. Conversely, the number of victims of crime experiencing family violence-related offending was the highest ever recorded, driven predominantly by increases in family violence common assault.

Family incidents increased 8.2% in the last 12 months to the highest on record at 92,999 incidents, as did the rate of family incidents, also up by 8.3% to 1,389.1 incidents per 100,000 Victorians. The number of family incidents that resulted in at least one criminal offence increased 6.3% to 46,782 incidents in the last 12 months.

CSA Chief Statistician Fiona Dowsley said that “Victoria has recorded the highest ever number of family incidents and family violence-related criminal offences during this period. The number of family violence-related victim reports has continued to increase, while other types of victim reports decreased over the past 12 months. This increase in family violence-related victimisation has been seen for the last three years, reflecting more than pandemic-related impacts.”

More detailed information is available on the latest crime data webpage.

For further information please contact:  
Crime Statistics Agency  
Email: info@crimestatistics.vic.gov.au (External link)

^ Please note that movements over time in recorded crime data may be impacted by changes in legislation and operational police practice.