CRG Report Number
20-85
Criminology Research Council grant ; (20/85)
This project was undertaken under contract to the grantee by Nicholas Clark and Associates.
The main findings of the study were:
- Each year there are about 25 000 fire incidents attended by the Fire Brigade in NSW, and these appear to cause about $150 million in replacement damage costs.
- There are very few successful prosecutions for the crime of arson as such. Only about 10 persons are convicted of arson each year in NSW, although other charges (such as malicious damage, manslaughter) are sometimes used instead of a charge of arson.
- Police and fire brigade sources indicate, however, that there are some 1500 to 3000 incidents each year which are almost certainly arson, and these cause about $25 million in replacement damage costs.
- Suspicious and other fires which are likely to have some contributing element of arson probably cause about another $40 million in replacement damage costs.
- Most of the costs associated with arson occur in shops, offices, cars and dwellings, these categories account for over 70 per cent of costs, indicating that most arson is carried out for pecuniary reasons.
- Persons under 16 years of age contribute to 28 per cent of fire incidents, but to only a small proportion (7 per cent) of fire damage, and only some of this is intentional and malicious.
- Arson tends to be concentrated in the metropolitan area. About 60 per cent of fire incidents occur in the Sydney metropolitan region, relative to about 75 per cent of arson incidents and about 80 per cent of damage due to arson being in the metropolitan area.
- The top 10 per cent of fires usually constitute around 90 per cent of the costs associated with fires, whether they are suspicious or not.
- There appears to be an increasing trend in arson incidents; the number of arson incidents appears to have doubled every eight years since 1964.