Comparability

Official sexual assault statistics come from one of two sources:

• reports made to State and Territory police (recorded statistics); and
• victimisation surveys.

The comparability of reports made to police is problematic due to:

• the lack of uniformity between States and Territories;
• the definition of sexual assault; and
• the crime category it falls under.

Measuring Victims of Crime: A Guide to Using Administrative and Survey Data, June 2011

As a result of the findings from the DiRCS project, the National Crime Recording Standard (NCRS) was developed to address the lack of uniform practices in initial police recording processes. The NCRS, comprising a uniform set of business rules and requirements, was developed in collaboration with police agencies across Australia to guide the recording and counting of criminal incidents for statistical purposes.

Download: Measuring Victims of Crime: A Guide to Using Administrative and Survey Data, June 2011

Source: The Australian Bureau of Statistics

Differences in Recorded Crime Statistics 2005

Recorded crime statistics are the result of incidents coming to police attention and a subsequent decision making process carried out by police in accordance with the criminal law. As such they are subject to different legislation, rules of operation and procedures in different jurisdictions.

Findings from the Differences in Recorded Crime Statistics project completed by the ABS in 2005 indicated that data for assault and sexual assault were not comparable across all states and territories. It found that differences between jurisdictions in police recording systems, business rules, procedures and legislation can partly explain differences in recorded crime across states and territories for certain offence types, in addition to changes in the incidence of criminal victimisation.

Download: Differences in Recorded Crime Statistics 2005 ( 213 Kb )

Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics

 

Caution should be exercised in making any direct comparisons between recorded crime statistics and data from Australian Bureau of Statistics household surveys due to the different scope and coverage, methods of measurement and sources of error.

Download: Recorded Crime - Victims, Australia 2007 ( 1.09 Mb )

Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics

Related reports

Review of Victoria Police Crime Statistics. Australian Institute of Criminology, 2002.

Download: Review of Victoria Police Crime Statistics 2002 ( 1.5 Mb )

Source: Australian Institute of Criminology

This is not an exhaustive list of research in the area of family violence and sexual assault, merely a starting point. As the locations of web pages often change, many of these reports have been made available through this page to assist readers. Please note that these pdfs may not contain the latest version or any recent changes so it is recommended that researchers check the author's website for updates, suplements or amendments. All published details correct as at Sept 2011.

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