NSW Recorded Crime Statistics 2012

                

Click here for the full report (pdf, 583Kb)

Release date: Wednesday,17 April 2013

State-wide trends

The surge in incidents involving the discharge of a firearm into premises which began in February 2010 has been reversed, according to the NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research.

In February 2010, incidents of discharge firearm into premises were running at an average of five a month. They peaked in August 2012 at an average rate of more than 11 per month. By December 2012, they were back down to around 6.7 a month. Other types of shooting incident are also down from their peaks between 2001 and 2003.

More detail on shooting offences is presented in the Bureau Brief entitled Non-Fatal shootings in NSW, published in tandem with the annual crime statistics.

Between January 2011 and December 2012:

  • Fraud increased by 14.6 per cent;
  • Assault - Non-domestic related fell by 5.7 per cent;
  • Break and enter (non-dwelling) fell by 4.9 per cent; and
  • Motor vehicle theft fell by 7.0 per cent

The remaining major categories of crime remained stable across the state as a whole.

Key Regional Trends

Eight SDs recorded an upward trend in at least one offence. They were:

  • Sydney: Fraud (up 17.0%)
  • Hunter: Assault - domestic violence related (up 14.7%) and robbery with a weapon not a firearm (up 79.0%)
  • Illawarra: Sexual assault (up 21.2%)
  • Mid-North Coast: Assault - domestic violence related (up 16.7%) and robbery with a weapon not a firearm (up 29.4%)
  • Northern: Break and enter dwelling (up 26.5%) and steal from dwelling (up 13.9%)
  • South Eastern: Steal from retail store (up 69.1%)
  • Murrumbidgee: Break and enter dwelling (up 12.7%)
  • Far West: Motor vehicle theft (up 112.5%).

Eleven of the 16 metropolitan statistical subdivisions (SSDs) showed upward trends in at least one offence. They were as follows:

  • Inner Sydney: Steal from dwelling (up 22.2%) and fraud (up 30.3%)
  • Eastern Suburbs: Steal from retail store (up 30.3%)
  • St George- Sutherland: Fraud (up 24.8%)
  • Fairfield-Liverpool: Fraud (up 26.9%)
  • Outer South Western Sydney: Steal from retail store (up 12.4%) and fraud (up 26.5%)
  • Inner Western Sydney: Break and enter dwelling (up 29.8%), steal from dwelling (up 34.4%) and fraud (up 23.3%)
  • Central Western Sydney: Steal from dwelling (up 14.8%)
  • Blacktown: Steal from retail store (up 8.1%)
  • Lower Northern Sydney: Steal from dwelling (up 34.2%)
  • Newcastle: Assault - domestic violence related (up 15.9%) and robbery with a weapon not a firearm (up 89.7%)
  • Wollongong: Break and enter dwelling (up 14.7%) and steal from dwelling (up 6.4%).

Commenting on the trends, the Director of the Bureau, Dr Don Weatherburn said that the increase in fraud mainly involves business/commercial premises and especially service stations and supermarket service stations.

Together, these two types of fraud accounted for 34.7 per cent of all reported fraud offences in 2012 and 39.8 per cent of the increase.

Robbery with a weapon not a firearm remained significantly up in two SDs (Hunter and Mid-North Coast) and one metropolitan SSD (Newcastle).

The growth in this offence over the 24 months to December 2012 for the Hunter seems to be spreading across business/commercial premises (service stations, takeaway restaurants, chemists, newsagents, general stores and licensed premises).

Further Enquiries: Dr Don Weatherburn 9231-9190

Copies of the report: www.bocsar.nsw.gov.au