Assaults reach a record high in WA, new ABS data reveals

1 week ago 5

Assaults in Western Australia reached record highs last year, new Australian Bureau of Statistics data reveals, with two-thirds of them domestic violence-related.

The figures, released on Wednesday, show that WA experienced an increase in assaults of 10 per cent in 2024, the highest recorded across the 30-year time series.

There were 175 victims of family and domestic violence (FDV) homicide and related offences recorded nationally in 2024, an increase of 14 victims from the previous year.

The assault victimisation rate also increased from 1,486 in 2023 to 1,580 victims per 100,000 persons in 2024.

Around three in five victims of assault were female, while more than a quarter were aged between 25 and 34.

Most of the assaults occurred at a residential location and did not involve a weapon.

Sex assaults also surged in 2024 with an increase of nine per cent. This was also the highest recorded number of victims across the history of the series.

Most sexual assault victims were again female and nearly half were children aged between 10 and 17 years old.

Almost a third of all recorded sexual assault incidents were domestic violence related.

The data also showed of all the assaults in WA last year, 64.7 per cent of them were domestic violence assaults, higher than any other state in the country where it was recorded.

The most common victim of those assaults were women who were assaulted by an intimate partner.

Other crimes in WA are down, with homicide seeing a decrease of 13 victims from the previous year.

Domestic violence rates in WA has increased putting us at the top of the list for the most DV victims of all assaults.

But of the 55 people murdered in 2024, 22 of them were domestic violence victims, 28 were men and 21 were aged between 18 and 34 years old.

Most of the murders occurred in residential and community locations and almost half did not involve the use of a weapon.

Robbery saw a decrease in 2024, with 1,316 victims in the 12 months recorded.

The most common location to get robbed was the street or the footpath, as well as retail locations.

Blackmail/extortion also dropped in 2024 by 33 per cent from the previous year.

For person victims of blackmail/extortion, almost two in three were male and almost half were aged under 18 years old.

Unlawful entry with intent also dropped in 2024 by 12 per cent. This was the third consecutive decrease since 2021 to the lowest number in the 32-year time series.

Car theft also dropped in WA, as did other theft. Almost two-thirds of those cars stolen were taken from an outbuilding or residential land.