Trends in Recorded Crime Statistics, 2004 to 2008
 

Offence category	Annual percentage change 2007 to 2008	Average annual percentage change 2004 to 2008
Murder*	N.A.	N.A.
Assault - domestic violence related	Stable	Up by 3.8%
Assault - non-domestic violence related	Stable	Up by 2.7%
Sexual assault	Stable	Down by 12.2%
Indecent assault, act of indecency and other sexual offences	Up by 43.9%	Down by 4.4%
Robbery without a weapon	Stable	Stable
Robbery with a firearm	Down by 42.0%	Stable
Robbery with a weapon not a firearm	Down by 42.4%	Stable
Break and enter - dwelling	Down by 19.3%	Stable
Break and enter - non-dwelling	Stable	Down by 10.0%
Motor vehicle theft	Stable	Down by 5.7%
Steal from motor vehicle	Stable	Stable
Steal from retail store	Up by 33.9%	Stable
Steal from dwelling	Stable	Down by 5.4%
Steal from person	Stable	Down by 12.8%
Fraud	Stable	Up by 8.1%
Malicious damage to property	Stable	Stable

 
This table shows the results of statistical tests for a significant upward or downward monthly trend in the number of criminal incidents * recorded over 2 years and 5 years respectively, for selected offence categories. Where the trend is significant, the annual percentage change in the number of incidents is shown.

"N.A." indicates that the number of incidents recorded was too small for a reliable trend test to be performed.

* For murder, the trend test is applied to the monthly number of recorded victims.