THE Crime Statistics Agency (CSA) released the Victorian crime statistics for the year ending December 31, 2024 on Thursday this week, March 20.
And while the number of offences increased 15.7% to 605,640 in the last 12 months and the rate of offences increased by 13.2% to 8691.6 offences per 100,000 people, one number is a standout – family violence.
Family incidents increased across the state by 11.3% in the last 12 months, with 104,786 incidents recorded. The rate also increased, up 8.8% or 1503.8 incidents per 100,000 Victorians.
However, don’t look to the socio-economically challenged metro suburbs of Hume, which includes the City of Broadmeadows, Frankston, Dandenong or the expanding western suburb of Wyndham to find your problem municipalities.
Most of them are right here in Gippsland.
The standout is East Gippsland with the highest rate of family incidents in the state at 4637.1 per 100,000 people, well above the state average of 1503.8 family incidents per 100,000 and well in excess of the likes of Hume with 1406.7 incidents or Wyndham with 1267.8 incidents per 100,000.
Latrobe City also recorded a high rate of family incidents, up 14.7% for the 12 months to the end of December 2024 with 3115 incidents up from 2715 for a rate per 100,000 of 3964.4.
In fact, all six Gippsland municipalities recorded family incident rates that were well above the state average, as follows:
- East Gippsland up 28.4%, rate of 4637.1 (per 100,000)
- Latrobe up 14.7%, rate of 3964.4 (per 100,000)
- Wellington up 14.2%, rate of 3193.7 (per 100,000)
- Baw Baw up 17%, rate of 2162.9 (per 100,000)
- Bass Coast up 12.3%, rate of 2103.8 (per 100,000)
- South Gippsland up 11.9%, rate of 1937.8 (per 100,000)
Nine years since the Victorian Royal Commission into Family Violence concluded a 13-month inquiry, in March 2006, and handed down a list of 227 recommendations, all of which were accepted by the Government, the effort appears to have had little or no impact, certainly not in country areas with the likes of Mildura 3885 incidents per 100,000, Horsham 3550.1 and Shepparton 3442 also well above the state average and much higher than any municipality in metro Melbourne.
In Bass Coast, for example, ‘breach of family violence order’ was the most prolific offence recorded, accounting for 643 of the total number of offences recorded in the year of 3422.
In South Gippsland, ‘breach of family violence order’ accounted for 379 of the 2251 total offences recorded.
