NCJ Number
163815
Date Published
1996
Length
8 pages
Annotation
Public perceptions of crime risk were obtained from a household interview survey conducted by the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
Abstract
Crimes covered by the survey were residential burglary, car theft, assault, and robbery. Interviews were successfully completed with 2,164 respondents across Australia in August 1995. Respondents were asked to estimate their chances of being victims of the aforementioned crimes within the next 12 months. Findings show that a substantial proportion of Australians regarded themselves as significantly at risk of criminal victimization. More than 26 percent of respondents regarded their risk of burglary as being greater than 30 percent. Figures for other offenses were lower but were still substantial. Although the results of the 1993 national crime victim survey suggest that the actual risk of each of the offenses considered in a given 12- month period is generally less than 6 percent, a substantial proportion of respondents considered their risks to be much higher than this. There were marked differences among jurisdictions in terms of perceived risk for the offenses. The actual risks of assault and robbery decline with age; however, there was no indication of a similar trend in perceived risk, except for women's perceived risk of assault. The proportion of women rating their assault risk in the lowest category increased with age. Whereas for nearly all age groups, men are more at risk of personal crimes such as assault and robbery than are women, women perceived their risks to be greater in most age groups. For both assault and robbery, a smaller proportion of women than men in every age group below the age of 65 judged their risks to be less than 6 percent. 4 figures, 6 notes, and 19 references