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:
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The annual number of recorded crimes with victims aged 65 years and over increased during the past 10 years
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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
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Theft was the most frequently recorded crime against an older person
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Around one-third of assault offences were committed by family members, with 60.8% of these cases perpetrated by a child against their parent
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Sexual offences had the largest proportion of victims aged 85 years and over (around one-third)
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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
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