14 September 2004
5000 Less Property Offences in NT
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There were more than 5000 less property offences in the Northern Territory in the year to June 2004 compared to figures for the same period in 2002/03.
The figure is part of the Quarterly Crime and Justice Statistics compiled by the Office of Crime Prevention.
Justice Minister Dr Peter Toyne said this fall sustains a consistent reduction in property crime since the statistics started to be compiled two years ago.
“It’s a truly remarkable turnaround, we have 5000 less offences over the past 12 months, that’s 5000 less people who have had property damaged or stolen,” Dr Toyne said.
“Our targeted programs are working, police and the community are working to identify trouble spots and then fix them.”
The year-to-year comparisons of the financial years 02/03 to 03/04 show the total number of property offences were down 19 percent or 5003 less offences, while offences against the person were down four percent or 170 less offences.
In a breakdown of the figures, the yearly comparison shows sexual assaults up by 19 percent (62 additional offences), most of the victims are children.
This may be due in part to an increase in reporting rates following the push by the Department of Family and Community Services to raise awareness of the problem and dedicate more resources to it.
An extra $53 million has been allocated to child protection in the Northern Territory over the next 5 years.
Dr Toyne said work was also continuing on addressing the rate of sexual offences through the Sexual Assault Task Force.
“The task force has been investigating ways of reducing the level of sexual offences across the NT,’’ he said.
“This is a huge task and includes the collation of information from not just from throughout the Territory but also from other jurisdictions to see what has worked and what hasn’t.
“This important research will result in a targeted, whole-of-government Sexual Assault Prevention Plan.
“Other government programs helping to address the issue include our domestic violence strategies and legislative reforms to protect the vulnerable.’’
Year to Year comparisons:
This data compares figures from one 12 month period to the next. Among the other key findings comparing the total number of offences in the 12 months to June 04 to the total number of offences in the 12 months to June 03:
- robberies decreased by 40% (38 less offences)
- assaults decreased by 4% (170 less offences)
- house break-ins decreased by 22% (603 less offences)
- commercial break-ins decreased by 24% (509 less offences)
- property damage incidents decreased by 23% (2171 less offences)
Quarter to Quarter comparisons:
Quarterly comparisons are the figures from the March 04 quarter (January/February/March) compared to the figures from the June 04 quarter (April/May/June). Key findings include:
- total number of offences against the person were down by 16% (173 less offences)
- assaults decreased by 15% (144 less offences)
- sexual assaults down by 26% (25 less offences)
- robberies up by 27% (four more offences)
- total number of property offences were down 17% (937 less offences)
- house break-ins decreased 4% (22 less offences)
- commercial break-ins decreased by 34% (179 less offences)
- property damage offences decreased by 25% (539 less offences)
Trends:
Trends are detected when there is an upward or downward movement in recorded crime levels of the last 12 months’ data. A downward trend was also recorded for assault offences. Trends were not identified for other offences across the Territory.
June Quarter 2004 Crime and Justice Statistics and Regional Fact Sheets are available online at www.crimeprevention.nt.gov.au
NOTE:
- The preceding statistics are a measure of recorded crime across the Territory.
- The data is collected from the Police Real-time On-line Management Information System.
- Nationally it is recognised that there are varying levels of un-reported crime in our community but that recorded crime is the best available measure of changes in the level of crime in a community.
- Statistics in the Territory can be highly volatile, with large swings from one period or another. This is particularly the case for regional centres where small populations and changes in operational or administrative procedures may heavily influence statistics.