WA leads nations crime data
West Australians are more likely to be victims of crime than in any other State, according to the latest Australian Bureau of Statistics compilation of crime victimisation statistics.
In all 10 categories, the ABS tracks - including sexual assault, break-ins, motor vehicle theft, malicious property damage and face-to-face threatened assault - WA was found to be worse than the national average.
In seven out of the 10 it was the worst in Australia in 2013-14. In six of the 10 categories, WA was worse than the previous year.
Shadow police minister Michelle Roberts used the statistics yesterday to argue that the State Government's tough-on-crime rhetoric was hollow and did not prevent people being victimised by crime.
"The Liberals like to talk tough but the fact is they have comprehensively failed when it comes to crime," Ms Roberts said.
"Western Australia has the worst record of all States and unfortunately things are getting worse."
But Police Commissioner Karl O'Callaghan questioned the accuracy of the ABS survey, warning its results could not be compared with WA crime statistics or figures from other States for several reasons.
Mr O'Callaghan said respondents to the survey sometimes did not understand the legal definition of the crime they were talking about, so they misreported it to the ABS.
He said the survey was useless for getting a picture of crimes going on in WA and for making comparisons with other States, which had different recording methods.
But he was concerned about the drivers of crime and said some trends reflected in the ABS statistics, such as an increase in motor vehicle theft, were relevant.
"I simply don't like the survey and I think it's incorrect, but there are some categories which we know are up in WA ... but we do have solutions for them," Mr O'Callaghan said.
Police Minister Liza Harvey said reported crime statistics from WA Police showed an overall downward trend in most crimes in WA, including significant reductions in assault, burglary and property damage.
"Michelle Roberts, as she is fully aware, is being mischievous by using isolated statistical data from the ABS," Mrs Harvey said.
"We have the lowest rate of offenders in the country apart from the ACT.
"We know we have a small number of offenders committing high-volume crime and that is exactly why we are strengthening the home burglary legislation to make it some of the toughest in the country."
