Non-domestic assaults in inner-city Newcastle were down 17 per cent in COVID-affected 2020 to the lowest level on record but remained more than three times the state average.
Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research figures also show stalking and intimidation offences rising to record levels in the Lower Hunter but domestic violence reports falling 7 per cent.
Non-domestic assaults, the category of offence often quoted to support or oppose nightclub lockouts, fell from 446 to 369 last year in the postcodes covering Newcastle, Newcastle West, Newcastle East and Hamilton.
The rate of such assaults stood at 1244 per 100,000 people in Newcastle and Newcastle East and 1358 per 100,000 in Hamilton. BOCSAR does not calculate a rate for Newcastle West.
The NSW average is 364 per 100,000 people.
Anti-violence campaigner Tony Brown said Newcastle's continued high rates of alcohol harm supported the view of residents, police and doctors that more, not fewer, trading limits were needed.
Newcastle police commander Wayne Humphrey said last month that it would be "absolute lunacy" to cancel lockouts in the city until the violence rate was on par with the state average.
The number of assaults in Hamilton and the inner-city last year marks a significant improvement on the 768 recorded in those areas in 2007, the year before Newcastle's lockouts began.
Some of Newcastle's larger late-night venues were closed for much of 2020 and all others were limited to a lower capacity due to social-distancing restrictions.
City of Newcastle and the NSW government are pushing for an end to lockouts in Newcastle, as has happened recently in Sydney's CBD and Kings Cross.
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Meanwhile, the number of domestic violence reports to police fell from 2629 in 2019 to 2457 last year in the five local government areas comprising the Lower Hunter.
Marcia Chapman, the executive manager of domestic violence support service Jenny's Place, said she was not surprised to see reports drop.
"We knew women were stuck at home with perpetrators and it would be much harder for them to reach out for help," she said.
All five council areas except Lake Macquarie recorded domestic violence report rates above the state average.
The Newcastle Herald reported on Thursday that the number of reported sexual assaults had risen 12.6 per cent last year to record levels in the Hunter.
The BOCSAR figures also show intimidation, stalking and harassment reports in Newcastle, Lake Macquarie and Port Stephens at an all-time high both in terms of raw numbers and reports per capita.
Reports topped 1000 in Lake Macquarie (1056) for the first time on record.
Newcastle (856) and Port Stephens (436) also reached record levels. All five LGAs had rates significantly higher than the state average.
- Jenny's Place domestic violence and homelessness support: 4927 8529
- Newcastle Sexual Assault Service: 4924 6333 or 4921 3888
- Survivors & Mates Support Network for male victims of child sexual abuse: 1800 472 676
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