Crime and Justice Statistics 1994 - Media Release

CRIME AND JUSTICE STATISTICS - MEDIA RELEASE

May 10, 1996
Embargoed till 5 am, Saturday May 11.

The Crime Research Centre at the University of WA today released its annual statistical report Crime and Justice Statistics for Western Australia: 1994.

Key features for 1994 were as follows:

A total of 260,080 offences were reported to police, an increase of 3.4% over 1993. There was an increase of 14.4% in the rate of offences against the person and an increase of 1.5% in property offences. Rates of reported crime increased for almost all offences. Since 1990, armed robbery offence rates doubled, increasing from 15.6 to 33.8 per 100,000 persons. Over the same period, unarmed robbery rates increased by 15%, from 31.2 to 35.9 per 100,000 persons.

Based on National Crime Statistics, Western Australia had the highest rates of reported burglary and motor vehicle theft in Australia. Motor vehicle thefts showed little change from 1993 to 1994 while burglary rates of dwellings increased by 11%. In 1994, 56 in every 1,000 homes in Western Australia were reported targets of burglary or attempted burglary.

Weapons were used in 8% of all violent offences in 1994. In almost one quarter of these cases, a firearm was involved. Weapons were used in more than half of all robberies - knives were used in 42% of these cases and firearms in a further 32% of incidents.

The number of charges laid by police fell by 1.1% during 1994 although the number of persons charged actually increased by 1.8%. This indicates that police are charging more alleged offenders but with fewer offences.

There was a reduced number of juvenile arrests in 1994, but this reduction was greater for non-Aboriginal than Aboriginal youth, leading to increasing differences in Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal arrest rates. Aboriginal young people are now 9.4 times more likely than non-Aboriginal young people to be arrested and charged.

The juvenile detention rate in WA has increased since 1993. With the exception of the Northern Territory, WA had the highest detention rate in the nation and was 1.7 times the national average.

The volume of charges and persons dealt with by the Higher Courts increased in 1994. Not guilty pleas have increased since 1993 while convictions have decreased slightly over the same period.

Sentences of imprisonment have increased since 1990 and remain the most common sanction applied by the higher courts. Since 1993 median sentence lengths have increased substantially for some offences, particularly sexual assaults and other offences involving violence.

Prison receptions declined between 1990 and 1992 but have increased since then: Aboriginal receptions rising by 8.1% and non-Aboriginal receptions by 7.5%. However, numbers of both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal receptions were lower than in 1990.