Murder at 30 year low

NSW Recorded Crime Statistics quarterly update September 2021

Release date: Thursday 16 December 2021

Link to report summary - NSW Recorded Crime Statistics quarterly update September 2021

57 murder victims were recorded in NSW in the year to September 2021; the lowest number since Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research (BOCSAR) records commenced in 1990.

"Over the last 30 years there has been a significant long-term downward trend in the number of victims of murder" said Jackie Fitzgerald, Executive Director at BOCSAR. "The highest number of murders recorded in a year was 126 in the year to September 1999, since then reports have declined steadily to the current low."

The low volume of murders in the year to September 2021 was due to a lower than usual number of:

• Adult female victims: 10 last year versus 23 per year on average over the previous 10 years
• Adult male victims: 39 last year versus 46 per year on average over the previous 10 years
• Murder victims in Greater Sydney: 28 last year versus 46 per year on average in the previous 10 years.

"Crime fell noticeably during the three month COVID lockdown but it is hard to say whether the recent low murder count was influenced by the COVID response or not. This is an infrequent offence and the numbers do fluctuate.  What is clear is that murder in NSW has become less common over the past decades." 

Further enquiries: Jackie Fitzgerald, Executive Director, 0423 139 687

Email: bcsr@justice.nsw.gov.au

Copies of the report: www.bocsar.nsw.gov.au