Australian Politics and Policy - Senior, 2019a

‘Law and order’ policy
Table 1 Incidents of crime in Australia in 2000 and 2017
Incidents in 2000 Incidents in 2017 % change
Homicide and related offences 989 414 58%
Sexual assault 15,630 24,957 60%
Kidnapping and abduction 688 482 30%
Robbery 23,314 9,599 59%
Unlawful entry with intent 436,865 176,153 60%
Motor vehicle theft 139,094 51,869 63%
Other theft 674,813 510,083 24%
Source: ABS 2018a; ABS 2001.
The context and characteristics of ‘law and order’ policy
There are a number of characteristics of law and order policy that require attention.
First, it is important to reflect on some recent significant trends in crime. The first
is (generally) falling crime rates. The second, perhaps counterintuitively, is the rise
in criminalisation and punishment, especially through imprisonment.
Crime trends
It is important to give some consideration to crime trends. It might be expected that
crime trends drive law and order policy making, but, as will be shown, this is not
necessarily the case.
Many major crime categories in Australia, as in many other Western societies,
have been experiencing consistent declines since the turn of the 21st century.
Incidents of some crime types in some Australian jurisdictions are at historic lows,
meaning that there has never been a safer period of time to reside in these parts of
Australia. Table 1 compares the number of reported incidents of particular crimes
(by category) that occurred in Australia in 2000 and 2017.
Every major category of crime included in Table 1, except sexual assault,
has shown a substantial decline between 2000 and 2017. Given the significant
population growth in Australia during this period, these declines are even greater
when considered as rates. These trends are generally not well known and are often
lost in heated debates about the incessant need for more law and order policy.
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