Harm caused by crime

As part of the Community Safety Statement the Victorian Government requested a new statistical view of harm caused by crime in Victoria. The Crime Statistics Agency (CSA) is pleased to announce the release of the new measure of the Harm caused by crime. This measure reflects the views of Victorians about the level of harm perceived to impact a person who is a victim of specific crime types.   

The Harm caused by crime measure includes 47 crime types that are applicable to person victims. These crime types are then assigned to one of the three harm categories (high, medium and low).

Key findings from the new measure include: 

• Most person victim crime reports relate to low harm crimes.  
• The proportion of low harm category has steadily decreased in the last 10 years ranging from 71.1% to 62.4%. However, in the last 12 months the proportion of person victim reports in this category increased to 63.8%. 
• The proportion of high harm victim reports has fluctuated in the last 10 years, from a low of 13.2% to a high of 15.3%. In the last 12 months, high harm caused by crime made up 14.5% of the total.  
• The medium harm caused category has steadily increased in the last 10 years from a low of 15.8% to a high of 22.3%. However, in the last 12 months the proportion decreased to 21.6%.  

For full details about the first release of data please see the Harm caused by crime – year ending 31 March 2020 publication below.