Crime in Australia at Its Lowest Since Records Began 16 Years Ago: ABS

The number of offenders brought before the courts by police in 2024 fell to its lowest level since records began in 2008, new ABS data shows.

A WA police car is seen in Perth, Western Australia, on March 23, 2024. Susan Mortimer/The Epoch Times

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), crime in Australia—as measured by the number of offenders charged by police—is at its lowest level since data collection began in 2008.

“There were 340,681 offenders in Australia in 2023/24, a fall of two percent from the previous year,” said the ABS’s head of crime and justice statistics, Samantha Hall.

“Accounting for population growth, 2023/24 marked the lowest offender rate since we started collecting this data in 2008/09. The rate is now down to 1,430 offenders per 100,000 people.”

Graph showing the number of offenders in Australia from 2008/09 to 2023/24. Australian Bureau of Statistics

This was largely due to a fall in illicit drug and public order offences, with both categories reaching record lows since recording began.

“Illicit drug offending has generally been falling over the last eight years, with the offender rate at 202 offenders per 100,000 people in 2023/24 versus 399 in 2015/16,” Hall explained.

The largest falls in illicit drug offenders since 2022/23 were in New South Wales (-2,287) and Queensland (-1,666), while the largest drops in public order offences were also in New South Wales (-1,686 offenders) and Queensland (-1,157 offenders), plus Victoria (-1,442 offenders).

Despite the overall reduction in offender numbers, those arrested and charged over family and domestic violence-related crimes rose to 90,697 in 2023/24, up 3 percent since the year before. This was driven by a rise in assaults, which went up by 4 percent over the year.

The most common crimes committed were:

• acts intended to cause injury, with 92,259 offenders (27 percent)
• illicit drug offences, with 48,213 offenders (14 percent)
• theft, with 34,919 offenders (10 percent)
• public order offences, with 32,307 offenders (10 percent).

Acts intended to cause injury and illicit drug offences have consistently been among the two most common crimes since 2012–13.

The male offender rate was around three times higher than that of females, with 2,161 male offenders per 100,000 males versus 711 female offenders per 100,000 females.

Youth crime has fallen steeply overall, despite violent youth crime rising in various regions.

Youth offending rates per 100,000 in Australia from 2008-09 to 2023-24. Australian Bureau of Statistics

Around a quarter (26 percent) of youth offenders were charged over acts intended to cause injury, which was the most common principal offence for that age group with 11,926 offenders last year.

The number with a principal offence of illicit drugs decreased by 17 percent to 2,791. This was the ninth consecutive annual decrease for this type of crime.

Accounting for population change, the youth offender rate for illicit drugs also decreased from 130 to 105 offenders per 100,000 persons aged between 10 and 17 years. This was the lowest recorded rate since the time series began in 2008/09.