The most common offence in Australia, according to recent Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) data (2023-24), involves Traffic and Vehicle Regulatory Offences, making up about 34-35% of principal offences in courts, followed by Acts Intended to Cause Injury (Assault) and Offences Against Justice (like breaching orders). However, if looking at recorded offenders (not just court cases), Acts Intended to Cause Injury (Assault), Illicit Drug Offences, and Public Order Offences are frequently the top three.
Serious crime in Australia
While there are a host of petty crimes in Australia, such as shoplifting or traffic offences, one of the most prevalent serious crimes in Australia is sexual assault, with the largest proportion of victims being female.
According to the Pew Research Center, the most common form of property crime in 2022 was larceny/theft, followed by motor vehicle theft and burglary. These crimes significantly impact victims financially and emotionally, and they constitute a considerable portion of criminal cases in the judicial system.
Common offences
The most significantly underreported crime in Australia is sexual assault and sexual violence, with vast discrepancies between survey data (revealing millions of incidents) and police-recorded statistics (showing far fewer reports) due to high fear, shame, and perceived lack of support, making it a hidden epidemic despite increasing awareness. Domestic and family violence is also highly underreported, often linked to power dynamics and fear, while child sexual abuse remains a critical hidden issue.
Melbourne is the local government area with the highest rate of crime, with a 17.4% increase since last year. However, when measuring crime on a per capita basis, Melbourne's crime rate is actually lower today (18,097 per 100,000) compared to 2016 (18,334 per 100,000).
Types of crime
Theft or larceny is the most common type of property crime. It's estimated that someone is a victim of theft every 5.5 seconds. The next most common crime is burglary, which involves breaking and entering.
What is the most common crime in Britain?
The descending order of UCR violent crimes are murder and nonnegligent manslaughter, forcible rape, robbery, and aggravated assault, followed by the property crimes of burglary, larceny-theft, and motor vehicle theft.
The federal prison population is approximately 209,000. 148,000 of these people are incarcerated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons. Of these people, there are 69,000 people incarcerated for drug offenses, 61,000 for public order offenses, 11,000 for violent offenses, and 6,000 for property offenses.
What Are the Most Common Types of Crimes in the US?
Social Class
Arrests statistics and much research indicate that poor people are much more likely than wealthier people to commit street crime. However, some scholars attribute the greater arrests of poor people to social class bias against them.
Canberra, the capital city of Australia, is considered the safest city. According to Numbeo, its safety index is 73.6, which is higher than other cities in Australia. It also ranked as the 49th safest city in global rankings.
The crimes that make up 19 Crimes include:
According to the latest National Homicide Monitoring Program report (July 2024 – June 2025), Australia saw a total of 277 homicides. Queensland had the highest number, with 111 victims, and Victoria wasn't far behind with 88 victims.
The most common crimes in Australia include theft, assault, and property damage. According to recent Australian crime statistics, property-related offences like break-ins and motor vehicle theft remain prevalent, while cybercrime and domestic violence are increasingly reported.
True crime has never been more popular, especially among Millennials and Gen Z. We spoke to devoted fans and one of Britain's leading creators, True Crime Caitlyn, to uncover why these dark stories captivate a new generation.
Main points
around 9.4 million incidents of CSEW headline crime, a 7% increase compared with YE March 2024 survey (8.8 million incidents); CSEW headline crime includes theft, robbery, criminal damage, fraud, computer misuse, and violence with or without injury.
A status offense is a nondelinquent (and noncriminal) act that is illegal for underage individuals (usually age 17 or younger), but not for adults. There are five main types of status offenses: 1) truancy, 2) running away from home, 3) violating curfew, 4) violating underage liquor laws, and 5) ungovernability.
Murder and manslaughter
Both offences can be described as homicide. The crime of murder is committed where a sane person unlawfully kills another person with intent to kill or cause serious injury. It is not considered to be unlawful killing if there is a reasonable justification, for example self-defence.
Violent crimes are the least well recorded crime type. Forces need to improve their recording of conduct crimes such as harassment, stalking and controlling or coercive behaviour. These crimes disproportionately affect women and girls and account for 37.9 percent of unrecorded violent crime; and.
A violent crime was committed every 26.3 seconds. A murder occurred every 32.1 minutes, a rape every 3.8 minutes, a robbery every 2.0 minutes, and an aggravated assault every 38.5 seconds. A property crime offense was committed every 4.6 seconds.
According to the Rome Statute, there are eleven types of crimes that can be charged as a crime against humanity when "committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack directed against any civilian population": "murder; extermination; enslavement; deportation or forcible transfer of population; imprisonment or ...
Additionally, crime categories may be further distinguished as victimless or public order crime, domestic violence (DV) and intimate partner violence (IPV), white collar crime, cybercrime, terrorism, state crime, sexual crime, environmental crime, organized crime, and more.