Recorded Crime - Victims, Australia, a publication from the Australian Bureau of Statistics, presents national crime statistics relating to victims of a selected range of offences that have been recorded by police. Between 2001 and 2002, the proportion of murders, attempted murders, kidnapping/abductions and robberies that involved a weapon decreased. In 2002, attempted murder was the offence most likely to involve either a firearm (22 per cent) or knife (35 per cent) whereas sexual assault was the offence least likely to involve a weapon. Between 2001 and 2002, the largest decreases in the type of weapon used in an offence were for firearms used in attempted murders, which dropped from 29 per cent to 22 per cent, and knives used in murders, which dropped from 29 per cent to 23 per cent.
Proportion of victims, by use of weapon in commission of offence, 2001 and 2002 [see attached PDF for graph]
Source
- Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2003, Recorded Crime - Victims, Australia, Catalogue no. 4510.0, ABS, Canberra.