New CSA research on crimes against older people in Victoria

2 October 2018

The Crime Statistics Agency (CSA) has released its ninth 'In Fact' research paper entitled "Crimes against older people in Victoria". The paper explores 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.

The research found that the number of crimes committed against older people in Victoria has increased over the past 10 years, even when even taking into account an ageing population. The most commonly recorded crime involving an older person was theft, followed by burglary, property damage, and assault.

In close to two-thirds of crimes against the person the victim knew the perpetrator, while this was the case for less than five per cent of property and deception offences.

Around one in three assaults against older people were committed by a family member, with the majority of these cases perpetrated by a child against their parent.

Some types of offences were more likely to be committed against those aged 85 or older, with the largest proportion of victims aged 85 years and over recorded for sexual offences (33.9%).

Close to 60 per cent of sexual offences took place at a nursing home or healthcare facility, as did nine per cent of assaults.

Overall, fifty-seven per cent of crimes against the person took place in a residential location, while this was the case for sixty-two per cent of property and deception offences.

The paper Crimes against older people in Victoria is available here.

The media release for this paper is available here.