Almost half of all homicides in NSW last year were domestic violence-related, according to new figures today by the NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research.
It’s a stark and tragic reminder of the toll of domestic violence in the state, with 45.9 per cent of the 85 murder victims recorded by NSW police being DV-related.
Twenty-six women were murdered in NSW in 2024, along with 13 young people and children. The majority fall into the category of being domestic violence related; others (like the five women killed during the Bondi Junction stabbing attack) had no personal connection to their killer.
Meanwhile, while many categories of major crimes have been trending downwards over the past ten years, domestic and family violence has taken a different path, with domestic violence assaults up 3.1 per cent a year on average (well ahead of the 1.3 per cent per year average in non-domestic assaults). Sexual assault is also up: 8.8 per cent per year on average.
Sadly, it seems that the “national crisis” of male violence against women that was declared in the first half of 2024, as well as the federal government’s commitment to end family and domestic violence “in one generation” has done little in NSW to reduce the figures, according to these latest stats.
Other major crime areas, including recorded robbery, break-and-enter, general stealing, and malicious property damage, are described as being “all much lower” than a decade ago.
Source: System failure: Nearly half of NSW homicides were DV-related in 2024