The reported number of crime victims in Queensland declined slightly in the final year of the former Labor government’s term, despite a successful years-long campaign by the Liberal National party claiming there was a “youth crime crisis” in the state, new figures show.
The LNP was elected in October on a platform of introducing “adult crime, adult time” laws for children and a vow to reduce the number of victims of crime recorded in Australian Bureau of Statistics data.
Prior to winning office, the then opposition leader David Crisafulli made an election campaign promise to resign if, as premier, he failed to reduce the number of crime victims below the 2023 figure of 289,657. He later walked that back on election eve, promising instead to cut the state’s crime rate on a per capita basis.
Now, new ABS figures show that the number of crime victims in Queensland had already fallen in the final year of the former Labor government.
According to data released on Wednesday, 289,449 Queenslanders were a reported victim of crime in the 2024 calendar year, a decline of about 208 people from the 289,657 recorded in 2023.
The minister for youth justice, Laura Gerber, said there had been a “small decrease of 2.25%” in the crime rate under Labor, taking into account the state’s population growth.
She did not answer questions about what her target for crime reduction was for 2025, but suggested that it would be more ambitious.
“[The 2024 crime rate reduction] is not good enough. We have a long way to go in this state, and the reason we have a long way to go is because we had 10 years of a Labor government failing to even acknowledge the crime crisis that was ripping through this state,” she said.
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In both 2023 and 2024, about 60% of people were victims of “other theft”, a catch-all category which includes offences such as shoplifting, public transport fare evasion and leaving a cafe without paying for a meal.
“Other theft” was excluded from data released by the state government as part of a media blitz trumpeting their success cracking down on youth crime in July.
According to the ABS, crime fell in most categories under Labor in its final year, including homicides.
Ninety-four people were victims of homicide or attempted homicide in 2024, compared with 111 in 2023. There was an 8.5% reduction in break and entry numbers from 49,490 to 45,273 and motor vehicle theft declined 3.9% from 18,210 to 17,493.
Two categories saw an increase: assault increased from 58,479 to 61,644, about 5%, and sexual assault from 8,442 to 9,326, about 10%.
About 60% of assaults and 40% of murders were the result of domestic and family violence, the ABS reported.
The Griffith University senior lecturer in criminology, William Wood, said the increases in those two categories were probably at least in part better measurement of once-ignored gendered offending.
But it also reflected a real increase in domestic violence, he said – as opposed to youth crime.
Youth crime represents about 13% of all offending in Queensland, according to the Queensland Audit Office.
“There is a crime epidemic in Queensland. It’s just not this one [youth crime],” Wood said.
“The number one cause of violence is domestic and family violence for women and children.”
In July, the Queensland police service released a report recommending it reduce its involvement in domestic violence case management, saying it was not the “core business” of policing.
The Labor shadow treasurer, Shannon Fentiman, said “Queenslanders quite rightly expect David Crisafulli to resign if the numbers released today do not decrease”.
“Unless he and his government do more to tackle domestic and family violence and sexual violence here in Queensland, he will not be successful at reducing the number of victims,” she said.
Crisafulli made the initial pledge to resign over crime victim numbers during a televisedcandidates’ debate in October.
“I’m serious about it, and I’m not giving myself any wriggle room. It’s victim numbers,” Crisafulli said at the time.
He also promised to set “targets for fewer victims year on year”. The government has yet to set a clear target for 2025 or any other year.
Labor also faced criticism from youth advocates over its crime policies while in government, twice suspending the state’s Human Rights Act in order to make breaching bail a criminal offence and to allow children to be detained in adult watch houses.
Since winning office the LNP has introduced two rounds of “adult crime, adult time” legislation, dramatically increasing the maximum sentences available for children convicted of a schedule of specific offences.
The laws were condemned by the United Nations, with the government conceding that its signature youth crime laws would “directly discriminate” against children by limiting their “protection from cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment”.
• In Australia, the national family violence counselling service is on 1800 737 732. In the UK, call the national domestic abuse helpline on 0808 2000 247, or visit Women’s Aid. In the US, the domestic violence hotline is 1-800-799-SAFE (7233). Other international helplines may be found via www.befrienders.org
