Domestic violence charges drive growth in court proceedings

Release date: Wednesday 18 March 2026

Links to report summary:

• NSW Recorded Crime Statistics quarterly update December 2025

The latest crime statistics from the NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research (BOCSAR) show a significant increase in adult court proceedings despite crime rates being largely stable.

Of the 13 major crime categories, eight were stable over the past two years to December 2025 and three declined significantly. Only two increased, with shoplifting incidents up 9.3%, while willingness to report sexual assault contributed to a 7.9% increase in that offence.  

While crime is mostly stable or down, NSW Police initiated 7.9% more adult court proceedings in 2025 compared with 2024. Much of this growth is due to more domestic violence legal actions, which rose 9.8% and accounted for around one‑third of the overall increase in adult court proceedings.

“The growing number of domestic violence charges reflects both an increase in domestic violence offences recorded by Police and a higher likelihood of charges being laid when these matters come to police attention,” said Jackie Fitzgerald, Executive Director of BOCSAR.

“In 2025 NSW Police recorded a record number of domestic violence-related intimidation stalking and harassment offences (25,393), along with breaches of Apprehended Domestic Violence Orders (26,063). The offence of coercive control remains much less common but continues to grow, with 326 offences recorded in 2025”. 

More domestic violence incidents are also progressing to court, even where incident numbers have not increased. For domestic violence related assaults, the share of incidents resulting in a charge rose from 65.7% to 69.4% over the past year. The higher charging rate led to a 9.5% increase in court actions for domestic violence assault, despite stable incident numbers. As a result, the number of adult alleged offenders proceeded against for domestic violence offences reached a record high of 45,984 in 2025, accounting for more than one in four adult court proceedings in NSW.

“The rise in domestic violence legal actions does not appear to reflect increased prevalence, but rather increased police enforcement and proactive detection. This is supported by other indicators, including stable hospitalisations, domestic violence‑related homicide numbers and crime victimisation survey results.”

Youth crime remains stable, with encouraging regional declines

In contrast, the number of court proceedings initiated by police towards young people remained stable in the two years to December 2025.

“The flat rate of legal actions suggests that youth crime has remained stable across NSW,” Ms Fitzgerald said. “In Regional NSW, however, youth offending is falling. Youth court actions fell by 13.7% in regional areas over the past two years, with particularly strong reductions in the Far West and Orana (down 31.0%), Illawarra (down 34.8%) and New England and North West (down 18.2%).”

Trends in the 13 major crime categories

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