Grim detail in new figures as ABS reveals sexual assault, property crime numbers up

Newly released figures covering retail and crimes across Australia reveal some crime rates went up over the last year, with a grim detail noted in one of the statistics.

The number of sexual assaults recorded by police went up three per cent over one year, with most victim-survivors who reported the crime being female, new statistics have revealed.

Property crime, which includes burglaries, were up for the second year in a row, according to the Recorded Crime – Victims report released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) on Thursday.

The fresh data also found retail rates were bucking forecasted trends, while job vacancy rates also dipped.

ABS head of crime and justice statistics William Milne said the crime figures reflect the record lows in 2020, coinciding with Covid-19 restrictions.

“Over the past two years, the numbers of recorded victims have been coming back up but are still lower than in 2019,” Mr Milne said.

The number of sexual assaults recorded by police also increased in 2022, up three per cent to 32,146 victim-survivors.

“We found that most victim-survivors were female (84 per cent),” Mr Milne said.

“We also found that victim-survivors were most commonly aged between 10 and 17 years when the sexual assault occurred (42 per cent).”

Retail turnover was up 0.7 per cent in May, seasonally adjusted. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Brendan Read

Retail trade figures, also released on Thursday, show a rise in turnover of 0.7 per cent in the May quarter (seasonally adjusted), bucking economists’ predictions of a flat result.

“Retail turnover was supported by a rise in spending on food and eating out, combined with a boost in spending on discretionary goods,” said ABS head of retail statistics Ben Dorber.

“This latest rise reflected some resilience in spending with consumers taking advantage of larger than usual promotional activity and sales events for May.”

Household goods and food related industries lead the charge, while clothing, footwear, and personal accessory retailing, and department stores were the only categories to fall.

Spending on food was boosted by a rise in prices, as reflected in CPI figures released on Wednesday showing food prices rose 7.9 per cent in the year to May.

It’s likely Thursday’s retail trade and job vacancies figures will weigh on the minds of the RBA board ahead of Tuesday’s July meeting.

Figures also released Thursday showed spending on food was up, driven by an increase in prices. Picture: Supplied

The Job Vacancies Australia report also showed while there has been a dip in available jobs, the overall number remains high.

The ABS reports there were more than 430,000 jobs available across the nation in the May quarter (384,000 of those private sector roles) — a decrease of two per cent on February.

Despite it being the fourth consecutive decrease, vacancies are still 89.3 per cent higher than they were in February 2020, about the time the Covid-19 pandemic ramped up.

Thursday's figures showed job vacancies were down two per cent in the three months to May. Picture: Supplied

ABS head of labour statistics Bjorn Jarvis says businesses continue to report difficulties in recruiting and retaining staff.

“The percentage of businesses reporting at least one vacancy has been above 11 per cent since August 2020, and higher than 20 per cent since May 2021,” Mr Jarvis said.

“This highlights the impact of a tight labour market on a broad range of businesses.”

Originally published as Grim detail in new figures as ABS reveals sexual assault, property crime numbers up