NCJ Number
241575
Date Published
2013
Length
66 pages
Annotation
Australia's National Homicide Monitoring Program (NHMP) annual report covers the nature and context for homicides that occurred throughout the 2008-09 and 2009-10 fiscal years.
Abstract
From July 1, 2008, to June 30, 2010, there were 510 homicide incidents in Australia, 253 in 2008-09 and 257 in 2009-10. These homicides involved 541 victims and 611 offenders. Since 2001-02, there has been a decline in the homicide rate from 1.8 per 100,000 in 2007-08, to 1.2 per 100,000 in 2009-10; this is the lowest recorded rate since the first NHMP. The homicide victimization rate remained at 1.2 incidents per 100,000 population in both 2008-09 and 2009-10. As in previous years, males were overrepresented as both victims (n=366; 68 percent) and known offenders (n=538; 88 percent). Knives continue to be the most commonly used weapon (41 percent in 2009-10). For 2008-09 and 2009-10, 13 percent of homicides involved the use of a firearm; only 14 percent of these involved a handgun. The most common victim-offender relationship was friends/acquaintances, followed by domestic homicides (36 percent). Female homicide victimization declined from 1.0 per 100,000 (n=112) females in 2007-08, to an historic low of 0.7 per 100,000 (n=80) females in 2008-09; however, females remain overrepresented as victims of intimate partner homicide. Sixty homicide victims were Indigenous individuals throughout 2008-09 and 2009-10. Although the number of Indigenous victims and offenders decreased compared with previous years, Indigenous people continued to be overrepresented in both cohorts. Forty-nine children 17 years old and younger were killed throughout the data period. The homicide victimization rate for this age group has remained stable over the history of the NHMP, with the exception of the group between 15 and 17 years old, which has declined to a historic low in the last 2 years (n=5). 42 tables and 20 figures