Police crime clear up rates reach historic high

Release date: Wednesday 23 April 2025

Link to report summary: Trends in police legal action rates in New South Wales: 2009 to 2023

The NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research (BOCSAR) has today released a new report examining the proportion of recorded crimes that result in an offender being charged by NSW Police. Changes in legal actions are considered over the 15 years from 2009 to 2023.

BOCSAR Executive Director, Jackie Fitzgerald, says “for almost every offence we have seen large increases in the rate at which legal actions are initiated. This means police are solving a higher proportion of crimes than ever before. Of the 11 offences examined, nine showed a significantly higher legal action rate in in 2023 compared with 2009”.

Key findings:

Property offences showed the largest increases in legal action rates:

• Malicious damage to property (up 14 percentage points from 12% in 2009 to 26% in 2023),
• Break and enter non-dwelling (up 13 percentage points from 6% in 2009 to 19% in 2023),
• Break and enter dwelling (up 8 percentage points from 5% in 2009 to 13% in 2023),
• Motor vehicle theft (up 8 percentage points from 5% in 2009 to 13% in 2023),
• Steal from motor vehicle (up 3 percentage points from 2% in 2009 to 5% in 2023).

The legal action rate for several violent offences also increased significantly over the past 15 years:

• Robbery (up 20 percentage points from 20% in 2009 to 40% in 2023),
• Domestic violence-related assault (up 7 percentage points from 60% in 2009 to 67% in 2023),
• Non-domestic assault (up 2 percentage points from 27% in 2009 to 29% in 2023),
• Sexual touching & other sexual offences (up 2 percentage points from 18% in 2009 to 20% in 2023).

Sexual assault was the only offence with a significant decline in the legal action rate, dropping from 10% in 2009 to 7% in 2023.

The legal action rate for murder was stable.

"It should be of comfort to victims and the community that the risk of apprehension for people who engage in crime is undoubtably higher than ever before.  The increased risk of being caught may also have contributed to the large decline in property crime over the past 15 years by deterring offending.”

On the impact to the criminal justice system Jackie observed that “because large falls in property crime have occurred alongside an increase in offenders caught by police, the number of defendants coming through the courts is largely unchanged despite there being fewer overall offences."  

For comment please contact:

Jackie Fitzgerald, Executive Director, NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics & Research.

Phone: +61 423 139 687
Email: jackie.fitzgerald@dcj.nsw.gov.au