Crimes against older people in Victoria

2 October 2018

This paper examines all offences recorded by Victoria Police that occurred during the 10 years to 31 December 2017 where the recorded victim was a person aged 65 or older.

Key findings include:

  • The annual number of recorded crimes with victims aged 65 years and over increased during the past 10 years

  • After adjusting for population growth over the period, the rate per 100,000 older people followed a similar (though flatter) trajectory, with a peak in 2016

  • Theft was the most frequently recorded crime against an older person

  • Around one-third of assault offences were committed by family members, with 60.8% of these cases perpetrated by a child against their parent

  • Sexual offences had the largest proportion of victims aged 85 years and over (around one-third)

  • Almost three in five sexual offences took place at a nursing home or healthcare facility, while across all offence types around three in five took place at a residential location

Figure 1. Annual rate of victimisation per 100,000 and total number of recorded crimes against older people
 

 

Author
Crime Statistics Agency, 2018
Publisher
Crime Statistics Agency, 2018
Date of Publication

 

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