While the serene image of Australia often dominates the postcards, the nation's sobering crime statistics from 2023 reveal a more complex reality, one marked by hundreds of homicides, hundreds of thousands of assaults, and a multi-billion dollar toll from fraud.
Key Takeaways
- In the year ending December 2023, Australia recorded 317 homicide and related victims, a victimisation rate of 1.2 per 100,000 population
- In 2022, New South Wales had 88 homicide victims, up 15% from 2021
- Victoria recorded 74 homicide victims in 2023, with a rate of 1.1 per 100,000
- In 2023, unlawful entry with intent (UEWI) victims totalled 162,692 across Australia, rate 612 per 100,000 population
- Motor vehicle theft victims 2023: 56,914, rate 214 per 100k, down 3%
- Other theft victims 2023: 341,970, rate 1,288 per 100k
- National cannabis seizures 2022-23: 4,200 tonnes
- Amphetamine detections at border: 15.6 tonnes 2023
- Heroin seizures: 590kg nationally 2022-23
- Sexual assault victims 2023: 27,868 nationally, rate 105 per 100,000
- Family and domestic violence incidents: 376,000 in 2023, up 6%
- NSW sexual assaults: 8,500 victims 2023
- Fraud victims 2023: 138,000 cases reported to Scamwatch, losses $2.68 billion
- Cybercrime reports to ACCC: 394,000 in 2023
- Investment scams: $1.32b losses 2023
Australia's 2023 crime statistics show varied homicide and assault rates across states.
Drug Offences
- National cannabis seizures 2022-23: 4,200 tonnes
- Amphetamine detections at border: 15.6 tonnes 2023
- Heroin seizures: 590kg nationally 2022-23
- Drug possession arrests: 70,000 in 2022
- Cultivations of cannabis plants: 250,000 seized 2022-23
- Methamphetamine lab busts: 1,200 in 2023
- Cocaine detections: 3.1 tonnes 2022-23, record high
- Drug trafficking charges: 12,500 in 2022 courts
- NSW drug arrests: 25,000 in 2023
- Victoria cannabis offences: 18,000 in 2023
- Queensland drug driving tests positive: 25% rate 2023
- 35% of prisoners incarcerated for drug offences 2023
- Ice (meth) users in treatment: 50,000 episodes 2022-23
- Ecstasy seizures: 28kg 2022-23
- Drug-related deaths: 1,600 in 2022, opioids 60%
- Border cocaine detections up 50% to 3.1t 2023
- Synthetic cannabis arrests: 2,500 2022
- Drug supply diversion programs: 15,000 participants 2023
- Heroin purity average 65% in 2023
- Cannabis use prevalence 11.4% adults 2022-23
- Meth supply arrests NSW: 4,000 2023
- National wastewater meth levels highest in regional areas 2023
- Drug court appearances: 8,000 in 2022-23
- Steroid possession offences: 1,200 2023
- Opioid prescriptions linked to 40% overdoses 2022
Drug Offences Interpretation
Australia's drug landscape is a grim comedy where we've become virtuosos at catching tonnes of the stuff, arresting tens of thousands of people, and filling our prisons, yet the demand remains so stubbornly high that our most notable success seems to be in perfecting the art of grimly cataloguing our own failure.
Fraud, Cybercrime and Other Offences
- Fraud victims 2023: 138,000 cases reported to Scamwatch, losses $2.68 billion
- Cybercrime reports to ACCC: 394,000 in 2023
- Investment scams: $1.32b losses 2023
- Phishing attacks: 70% of cyber reports 2023
- Ransomware incidents: 15,000 reports 2023
- Identity theft victims: 25,000 2023
- Business email compromise losses: $500m 2023
- Romance scams: $31m losses, 2,400 victims 2023
- AFP cyber arrests: 150 in 2023
- Job scams: 17,000 reports, $14m loss 2023
- Tax scams: 10,000 reports 2023
- Online shopping fraud: 45,000 cases 2023
- Elder financial abuse: $5b annual cost est. 2023
- Cryptocurrency scams: $430m losses 2023
- Malware detections: 76 million on Australian devices 2023
- Check fraud: 1,200 cases $10m loss 2023
- Superannuation scams: 400 reports $27m 2023
- Government impersonation scams: 25,000 reports 2023
- Data breaches notified: 1,100 in 2023
- Emotet malware takedown impact: 500 orgs affected 2023
- In 2023, traffic offences totalled 2.5 million nationally
- Drink driving apprehensions: 35,000 in 2023
Fraud, Cybercrime and Other Offences Interpretation
Australia's digital landscape has proven itself a far more lucrative hunting ground for criminals than its roads, with cyber scams and fraud fleecing citizens of billions while traffic offences merely rack up millions in fines.
Property Crime Statistics
- In 2023, unlawful entry with intent (UEWI) victims totalled 162,692 across Australia, rate 612 per 100,000 population
- Motor vehicle theft victims 2023: 56,914, rate 214 per 100k, down 3%
- Other theft victims 2023: 341,970, rate 1,288 per 100k
- NSW burglaries 2023: 51,000, down 8% from 2022
- Victoria break-ins 2023: 32,400 residential
- Queensland motor vehicle thefts: 14,500 in 2023
- SA property thefts 2022-23: 28,000 incidents
- WA theft offences: 65,000 in 2022, rate 2,400 per 100k
- Tasmania UEWI: 1,800 victims 2023
- NT property crime victims: 12,000 in 2022-23
- ACT thefts: 5,200 in 2023, mostly retail
- Residential burglaries 65% of UEWI nationally 2023
- 75% of motor thefts in urban areas 2022
- Shoplifting incidents: 120,000 in 2023
- Bike thefts: 25,000 victims 2022, up 20%
- Property crime clearance rate: 12% nationally 2023
- smash and grab burglaries up 15% in Sydney 2023
- Recovered stolen vehicles: 45% in 2022
- Retail theft value: $2.5 billion loss 2023 est.
- Rural burglaries: 18% of total UEWI 2023
- JOYRIDE vehicle thefts: 30% of motors 2022
- Purse snatching: 2,100 victims 2023
- Commercial burglaries: 22,000 in 2023
- Theft from dwellings: 45% of other thefts 2022
- Property crime down 10% since 2013 peak
- Car break-ins: 40,000 in NSW 2023
Property Crime Statistics Interpretation
Australia's burglars are apparently diversifying their portfolios—while they're stealing slightly fewer cars and breaking into slightly fewer homes overall, they're enthusiastically embracing retail theft, joyrides, and the timeless art of the smash-and-grab, ensuring that with a dismal 12% clearance rate, property crime remains a growth industry even as the total numbers slowly decline.
Sexual and Family Violence
- Sexual assault victims 2023: 27,868 nationally, rate 105 per 100,000
- Family and domestic violence incidents: 376,000 in 2023, up 6%
- NSW sexual assaults: 8,500 victims 2023
- Victoria family violence: 102,000 incidents 2023
- Child sexual abuse reports: 20,000 substantiated 2022-23
- 92% sexual assault victims female 2023
- Indigenous sexual assault rate 4x national average 2022
- Domestic assault victims: 142,000 women 2023
- Apprehended violence orders: 35,000 issued NSW 2023
- Online child exploitation reports: 45,000 to ACIC 2023
- Rape convictions: 450 in 2022 courts
- Family violence homicides: 25% of total homicides 2022
- Stalking victims: 12,000 recorded 2023
- Elder abuse reports: 5,000 substantiated 2022-23
- Teen dating violence: 15% prevalence survey 2023
- Sexual assault reporting rate: 15% of incidents 2022
- Male family violence victims: 22% 2023
- Coercive control laws prosecutions: 200 in QLD 2023
- Sexual offences against children under 10: 4,500 2023
- DV intervention orders Victoria: 28,000 2023
- Image-based abuse reports: 8,000 to eSafety 2023
- Family violence police callouts: 1.2 million annually est. 2023
Sexual and Family Violence Interpretation
While the nation fixates on fleeting headlines, the grim ledger of daily terror reads like a Kafkaesque tax return for a country where violence against women and children is meticulously documented but stubbornly accepted as a tragic cost of doing business.
Violent Crime Statistics
- In the year ending December 2023, Australia recorded 317 homicide and related victims, a victimisation rate of 1.2 per 100,000 population
- In 2022, New South Wales had 88 homicide victims, up 15% from 2021
- Victoria recorded 74 homicide victims in 2023, with a rate of 1.1 per 100,000
- Queensland saw 65 homicide victims in the year to September 2023
- South Australia had 23 homicide victims in 2022-23, rate 1.3 per 100,000
- Western Australia recorded 52 homicide victims in 2022, up from 41 in 2021
- Tasmania had 5 homicide victims in 2023, lowest among states
- Northern Territory recorded 20 homicide victims in 2022-23, rate 7.8 per 100,000
- ACT had 3 homicide victims in 2023, rate 0.7 per 100,000
- Nationally, 65% of homicide victims in 2022 were male
- In 2023, assaults numbered 409,718 victims Australia-wide, rate 1,553 per 100,000
- NSW assault victims 2023: 132,000, up 5%
- Victoria assaults: 118,500 in 2023, rate 1,700 per 100k
- Robbery victims nationally 2022: 14,243, rate 53 per 100,000
- 42% of robberies in Australia 2023 involved weapons
- Youth (10-17) assault victims: 48,000 in 2022
- Family and domestic assault victims: 169,000 in 2023, 41% of all assaults
- Alcohol-related assaults: 27% nationally in 2022
- Serious assault hospitalisations: 25,000 in 2021-22
- Homicide by firearm: 15% of cases in 2022
- Street robberies up 10% in major cities 2023
- Indigenous assault victim rate 10x higher than non-Indigenous, 2022
- Night-time assaults peak at 70% between 6pm-6am
- Aggravated robbery victims: 6,500 in 2023
- Assaults in licensed premises: 8,200 incidents 2022
- Male assault victims: 52% of total in 2023
- Grievous bodily harm convictions: 4,200 in 2022
- Drive-by shootings: 120 incidents in NSW 2022
- Public order assaults: 22% of assaults in 2023
- Homicide clearance rate: 88% nationally 2022
Violent Crime Statistics Interpretation
While Australia's national homicide rate remains reassuringly low at 1.2 per 100,000, a closer look reveals a sobering patchwork where stark regional disparities, a disturbingly high Indigenous victimisation rate, and a relentless tide of often alcohol-fuelled assaults—particularly at night and within homes—paint a far more complex and concerning picture of violence.
Sources & References
- Reference 1ABSabs.gov.auVisit source
- Reference 2BOCSARbocsar.nsw.gov.auVisit source
- Reference 3CRIMESTATISTICScrimestatistics.vic.gov.auVisit source
- Reference 4POLICEpolice.qld.gov.auVisit source
- Reference 5AGDagd.sa.gov.auVisit source
- Reference 6POLICEpolice.wa.gov.auVisit source
- Reference 7POLICEpolice.tas.gov.auVisit source
- Reference 8PFESpfes.nt.gov.auVisit source
- Reference 9AFPafp.gov.auVisit source
- Reference 10AICaic.gov.auVisit source
- Reference 11AIHWaihw.gov.auVisit source
- Reference 12ABFabf.gov.auVisit source
- Reference 13ABCabc.net.auVisit source
- Reference 14QLDqld.gov.auVisit source
- Reference 15CRIMINALLAWNEWScriminallawnews.com.auVisit source
- Reference 16HEALTHhealth.gov.auVisit source
- Reference 17HEALTHhealth.nsw.gov.auVisit source
- Reference 18WASTEWATERwastewater.org.auVisit source
- Reference 19AIFSaifs.gov.auVisit source
- Reference 20ACICacic.gov.auVisit source
- Reference 21ESAFETYesafety.gov.auVisit source
- Reference 22SCAMWATCHscamwatch.gov.auVisit source
- Reference 23ACCCaccc.gov.auVisit source
- Reference 24CYBERcyber.gov.auVisit source
- Reference 25ACSCacsc.gov.auVisit source