Benalla’s rate of family violence still the highest in north-east Victoria

By Simon Ruppert

Jun 16, 2022

Not good: While overall crime dropped, the Rural City of Benalla still has the highest rate of reported incidents of family violence in north-east Victoria. Photo by Megan Fisher

The Rural City of Benalla continues to have the highest rate of family violence, per capita, in the north-east — although the figure is down from last year.

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Only East Gippsland, Latrobe and Swan Hill had a higher rate statewide.

The rate of family violence incidents in the Rural City of Benalla (2610.8 per 100,000 residents) is almost double the state average (1360.4 per 100,000 residents).

It also has a higher total criminal incidents per capita than the state average with 6900.9 incidents per 100,000 residents in the Rural City of Benalla. The Victorian average is 5142.2 per 100,000 residents.

These figures come from the Crime Statistics Agency, which released Victorian crime statistics for the year ending March 31, 2022 on Thursday, June 16.

While criminal incidents in the Rural City of Benalla overall are down 1.7 per cent, the LGA has seen an increase in:

Incidents of people breaching family violence orders: Up from 116 last year to 131;
Thefts: There have been 75 incidents, one higher than in the previous year.
Common assaults: There have been 60 incidents, one higher than the previous year; and
Residential, non-aggravated burglary: There were 41 incidents, up from 33 the previous year.

The offence that has seen the biggest decline is criminal damage, which saw 74 incidents, a drop of 37 from the previous year.

Perhaps unsurprisingly the vast majority of criminal incidents were in the Rose City, with 880 of the 978 incidents occurring within the city.

This figure is down from the previous year when it was 901 of 995 overall incidents.

The town within the LGA that saw the biggest increase was Baddaginnie, with 16 incidents; however, this is less than the previous year when there were 25.

Statewide the rate of recorded offences decreased 11.9 per cent to 7048.2 per 100,000 Victorians, as did the total number of offences, down 11.5 per cent to 470,405.

This decrease was driven by a reduction in Breach of Chief Health Officer directions related to the COVID-19 pandemic (down 72.2 per cent) and property and deception offences (down six per cent).

In the 12 months to March 31 the criminal incident statewide rate decreased 11.5 per cent to 5142.2 per 100,000 Victorians, as did the number of incidents, down 11.2 per cent to 343,194 incidents.

This decrease was also driven by reductions in Breach of CHO directions related to the COVID-19 pandemic (down 73.2 per cent) and property and deception offences (down 2.8 per cent).

Alleged offender incidents decreased 18.3 per cent in the past 12 months.

This decrease was driven by Breach of CHO directions related to the COVID-19 pandemic and property and deception offences (down 10.1 per cent).

The victimisation rate decreased by 2.5 per cent to 2926.3 reports per 100,000 Victorians, as did the number of person-related victim reports (down 2.1 per cent) and organisation reports (down 3.9 per cent).

These decreases for person-related victim reports were driven by acquisitive crime types (down 2.5 per cent).

CSA chief statistician Fiona Dowsley said changes to COVID-19 responses had resulted in fewer Breaches of CHO directions offences.

“(This has driven) key crime measures down in the last 12 months,” Ms Dowsley said.

“Decreases in acquisitive crime such as thefts and deception have also contributed to decreases in key crime measures, following trends seen throughout the pandemic period.”

If you, or someone you know is in immediate danger of family violence call 000. You can contact 1800 RESPECT 24 hours a day on 1800 737 732.

Find out more about this year’s Victorian crime stats by visiting www.crimestatistics.vic.gov.au.