Key figures: Year ending 31 March 2018

CSA FACT SHEET: RECORDED CRIME STATISTICS – YEAR ENDING 31 March 2018

 

State wide figures

  • The number of criminal incidents recorded by police in the year to 31 March 2018 was 380,150. This is down 8.8% from 416,925 incidents recorded in the same period last year.
  • The number of offences recorded by police in the year to 31 March 2018 was 502,858. This is down 7.4% from 542,893 offences recorded in the same period last year.
  • Offender incidents decreased to 173,388, down 0.6% from 174,515 in the year to March 2017.
  • Victim reports decreased in the year to 31 March 2018 by 10.5% to 298,800 victim reports.
  • Family incidents decreased in the year to 31 March 2018, down 3.2% from 77,717 to 75,263.

 

Local Government Area level figures

 

The five Local Government Areas with the highest criminal incident rates were:

Criminal Incidents

  1. Melbourne (15,502.7 incidents per 100,000 estimated resident population, down 19%)
  2. Latrobe (12,538.7 incidents per 100,000 estimated resident population, down 9.6%)
  3. Yarra (10,852.6 incidents per 100,000 estimated resident population, down 7.6%)
  4. Greater Shepparton (9,033.4 incidents per 100,000 estimated resident population, down 6.1%)
  5. Mildura (8,723.1 incidents per 100,000 estimated resident population, down 7.9%)

The five Local Government Areas with the highest recorded offence rates were:

Recorded Offences

  1. Melbourne (21,152.5 offences per 100,000 estimated resident population, down 9.5%)
  2. Latrobe (17,867.1 offences per 100,000 estimated resident population, down 7.4%)
  3. Yarra (13,661.4 offences per 100,000 estimated resident population, down 4.4%)
  4. Horsham (12,410.8 offences per 100,000 estimated resident population, down 5.5%)
  5. Greater Shepparton (12,279.8 offences per 100,000 estimated resident population, down 4.4%)

 

 

Crime category trends

From April 2016 to March 2018, the major offence categories that showed significant upward trends were:

 

Criminal Incidents

  • Sexual offences (up 13.4% from 7,493 to 8,495)

 

 

 

Recorded Offences

  • Public nuisance offences (up 14.8% from 3,272 to 3,756)
  • Other government regulatory offences (up 52.0% from 561 to 853)

 

 

From April 2016 to March 2018, the following offence subdivisions showed a significant downward trend:

Criminal Incidents

  • Abduction and related offences (down 13.6% from 469 to 405)
  • Burglary/Break and enter
    (down 15.2% from 50,684 to 42,966)
  • Theft (down 14.1% from 153,422 to 131,788)
  • Deception (down 6.8% from 21,756 to 20,270)
  • Drug dealing and trafficking (down 10.8% from 3,046 to 2,717)
  • Justice procedures
    (down 12.8% from 8,507 to 7,414)

 

Recorded Offences

  • Burglary/Break and enter
    (down 15.5% from 53,452 to 45,147)
  • Theft (down 12.9% from 189,098 to 164,642)
  • Drug dealing and trafficking
    (down 14.1% from 4,804 to 4,126)
  • Weapons and explosives offences
    (down 7.8% from 15,921 to 14,683)
  • Justice procedures
    (down 7.7% from 13,288 to 12,270)

 

 

 

For explanatory information and definitions for the latest release, see the explanatory notes (External link) and glossary (External link).