Topic > Crime Statistics in Australia

Some sectors of society believe it is appropriate for Australia to have tough laws for specific crimes. Australia must adopt a “tough on crime” attitude to serious crimes that erode the fabric of Australian culture and security – those involving terrorism, organized crime and environmental crime. There is a general misconception in society that Australia's crime rate is rapidly increasing. This attitude is partly attributable to the media's real-time reporting and often sensationalization of stories and facts related to crimes. It leads one to believe that crimes are occurring at a greater rate than in previous years. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Statistics compiled by the Australian Bureau of Statistics, however, indicate that the number of offenders reported to police in Australia during 2016-2017 fell for the first time since 2011-2012, down 1% from 2015 -2016, from 418,352 to 413,894. Australia's crime rate also fell over this period, from 2,005 to 1,949 offenders per 100,000 people. Statistics show that there has been an overall decrease in the crime rate, although intense media coverage of incidents leads the general public to believe that there is more crime than in the past. During 2017, there were 176,153 victims of intentional illegal entry, which represented a decrease of 7% or 12,604 compared to 2016. This was the lowest number recorded since the time series began in 2010. The decrease in entries intentional unlawful killings between 2016 and 2017 occurred in several jurisdictions, notably: Victoria fell 16% or 8,266 fatalities, South Australia fell 14% or 1,923 fatalities, Western Australia fell 9% or 3,385 fatalities and New South Wales was down 7% or 2,983 fatalities. Additionally, there were further decreases in burglary rates. recorded by the police over the years. The Outlaw Motor Cycle Gangs (OMCG) are one of the highest profile organized crime groups, with an active presence in all Australian states and territories. Until recently, Australian OMCGs were predominantly limited to domestic operations. However, more recently, there has been an increase in their international connections. Australian OMCGs are believed to be expanding offshore and collaborating with overseas sections and other sophisticated, high-risk organized criminal groups operating in Australia and internationally. The most recent assessment of OMCGs found there are 40 active OMCGs in Australia, made up of approximately 460 sections and 4600 patched members. Queensland has recently introduced tough new laws against organized crime and in particular outlaws motorcycle gangs, child exploitation and fraudulent syndicates. The new laws have been implemented to tackle criminal conspiracy and make it a crime for criminals to associate with other criminals known in person or by conduct. The Queensland Government believes these laws better manage likely organized crime and collaboration. These new laws provide an example of the implementation of the “tough on crime” stance in Australia. Tough new laws now allow police to focus their resources where they identify the greatest threat, such as outlaw motorcycle gangs and any organized criminal group participating in fraud and/or child exploitation networks. The new and strict orders and regulations regarding premiseslimited allow police to keep outlaw clubs locked down and search other venues suspected of criminal activity. With around 40 active motorcycle gangs across Australia, Queensland has taken the lead in legislating a "tough on crime" stance in relation to organized crime and passing new OMCG laws. Another issue that is becoming increasingly concerning in Australia is the impact of large corporations and corporations. not following protocol regarding environmental laws. Often these companies deliberately choose to incur fines associated with violations of environmental laws, rather than changing their practices. Once again the Queensland Government has introduced a tough new set of laws which it believes will act as a disincentive for companies to commit environmental crime. The Queensland Government has said the new laws will provide a much greater deterrent than simply fining companies. The most significant change introduced by the Queensland Government in the new bill is that it allows authorized Department of Environment and Resource Management (DERM) officers to enter business premises suspected of an environmental crime without consent or warrant. This new provision will allow an authorized person to enter the territory not only when illegal environmental damage has been caused by the release of a contaminant, but also when it believes, on reasonable grounds, that illegal environmental damage has been caused by the release of a contaminant. Most Australians would agree that in today's society it is a priority for individuals and businesses to be environmentally conscious because climate change and global warming is a global issue. It may therefore be considered appropriate for Queensland to introduce these new “tough on crime” laws to make it more difficult for companies and multinationals to deliberately put our environment at risk. There are many new legislative policies in place to provide the DERM with powers to combat these cunning crimes. Terrorism is another area where Australia is introducing tough new laws. At the moment, Australian governments are more interested in being perceived as tough on terrorists than in actually combating the underlying causes that allow, in Australia's case, the growth of domestic terrorism. Australian sentencing law has had a long history that has generally served many Australian communities well. Condemning terrorists has become a peremptory political act as the new chapter is led by the government that wants to be perceived as tough on terrorism. In response to tough new terrorism laws, the Australian Government has proposed legislation that diminishes and eliminates traditional common law rights and privileges, but also allows a lower level of criminality to be demonstrated to establish guilt. This new “tough on crime” approach has been justified on the basis of the need for a new approach to combat terrorists who show little or no respect for traditional rights and values. The new laws were passed on September 20, 2018 and under the new laws, people who tamper with food could spend up to 15 years behind bars for the new crime of "recklessness" which will cover people who indulge in hoaxes or they contaminate food without intention. to hurt someone. The tough new penalty for food contamination is in line with penalties for terrorist financing and possession of child pornography. There are many valid arguments as to why Australia needs to adopt an attitude.