The Crime Statistics Agency has today released its recorded crime statistics for Victoria for the year ending 31 March 2015.
Recorded crime statistics show that there were 458,027 offences recorded by Victoria Police in the year to March 2015, up 1.3% compared to the same period last year.
The crime rate was 7696.5 offences per 100,000 people, a decrease of 0.6%.
There were 69,442 family related incidents recorded, up by 8.2%.
Offender incidents increased 3% from 157,466 in year ending March 2014 to 162,171 in year ending March 2015.
Victim reports made to police have decreased by 3.1% compared to the same period last year, making the victimisation rate 4645.4 per 100,000 population.
Crime Statistics Agency Chief Statistician Fiona Dowsley said that the statistics released this quarter reflected similar trends seen in the previous quarter.
'Stalking, harassment and threatening behaviour and breaches of orders have again seen statistically significant increases this quarter' Ms Dowsley said.
'The Melbourne local government area recorded the highest offence rate per 100,000 population at 25,419.7, but this rate has seen a 4.7 per cent decrease overall compared to the same time last year.'
Further information, including Local Government Area data, can be found in the latest crime data.
State wide figures
- The number of offences recorded by police in the year to 31 March 2015 was 458,027. This is up 1.3% from 452,209 offences recorded in the same period last year.
- Family incidents increased in the year to 31 March 2015, up 8.2% from 64,187 to 69,442.
- There were 162,171 offender incidents recorded in the year to 31 March 2015, up 3% from 157,466 in the year to March 2014.
- Victim reports decreased by 3.1% in year ending March 2015 to 276,454 victim reports.
Offence trends
Between year ending March 2015 and 2014, the major offence categories that showed a significant upward trend were:
- Stalking, harassment and threatening behaviour (up 11.7% from 10,686 to 11,936)
- Breaches of orders (up 48.1% from 32,728 to 48,470)
The major offence categories that showed a significant downward trend were:
- Robbery (down 9.3% from 2,658 to 2,410)
- Disorderly and offensive conduct (down 14.4% from 23,767 to 20,355)
All other offence categories were stable.
Local Government Area level figures
The five Local Government Areas with the highest offence rates were:
- Melbourne (25,419.7 offences per 100,000 estimated resident population, down 4.7%)
- Latrobe (16,545.4 offences per 100,000 estimated resident population, up 14.5%)
- Yarra (14,321.9 offences per 100,000 estimated resident population, up 4.2%)
- Horsham (12,951.2 offences per 100,000 estimated resident population, up 30.8%)
- Port Phillip (11,488.5 offences per 100,000 estimated resident population, up 6.1%)
For a detailed breakdown of the data, click to view the crime statistics quarterly release.
For a breakdown of offences at the LGA level, click to access the CSA Crime by location tool.
For explanatory information and definitions for the latest release, see the explanatory notes and glossary.