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Violence is skyrocketing in Queensland, but young people aren't to blame

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The rate of assaults in Queensland is nearly three times worse than it was four years ago, government data shows.

On Monday, the Queensland Government Statistician's Office (QGSO) released new crime data for 2022-23, showing a surge in violent crime for that financial year.

Nearly three in four victims of crime had fallen prey to an assault, with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women severely over-represented in the data.

The report noted an "unprecedented" increase in Aboriginal victims of crime, as the number more than doubled in two years from 4,504 unique victims to 9,306.

Aboriginal women were 8.3 times more likely to be assaulted than non-Indigenous women, at 6,415.5 victims per 100,000 population compared to 777 per 100,000 population of non-Indigenous women.

Despite widespread media reports of a "Queensland youth crime wave", the rate of youth criminals decreased 26.8 per cent in nine years from 2,700 per 100,000 population to 1,977.4 per 100,000.

The most violent cohort of Queenslanders was actually those in the 30-39 age bracket, who committed nearly a quarter of all assaults.

Queenslanders aged between 30-39 in 2022-23 committed 4,761 assaults out of a total of 19,977 committed that financial year.

Fewer young people committed crimes in 2021-22 than at any point in recorded Queensland history.

The new youth crime data comes days after the now-defunct Youth Justice Reform Committee tabled its interim report to parliament. 

The committee sensationally dissolved after Labor and LNP committee members failed to reach an agreement over several key recommendations of the report.

One key disagreement was whether to regulate news and social media, which, the committee heard, had created "fear-mongering" on the topic of youth crime.

The statistician's report noted that the latest youth crime rate could be inflated since extra police resources had been specifically allocated to targeting youth recidivists.

The data showed that although there were fewer youth criminals, the ones that did exist were more likely to be repeat offenders.

On average, youth offenders were caught committing 44 per cent more crimes than nine years ago, from 2.7 offences per youth offender to 3.9.

Queensland's overall crime rate decreased 15.4 per cent since 2001, although much of those declines are attributable to city areas such as Brisbane.

Queensland's overall crime rate was 1,087 per 100,000 offenders in January 2001 but decreased to 920 in February 2024.

Outback Queensland had the highest crime rates, with North and Far North Queensland having some of the worst rates.

The Northern police district, which includes Townsville and Mount Isa, has bucked statewide trends and seen crime worsen over the last 20 years.

In Mount Isa, the rate of assaults has increased nearly five-fold over the last 20 years from 207 per 100,000 in January 2001 to 975 in February 2024.

In Queensland, most assaults were committed by friends and family members, with only 29 per cent committed by a stranger.

In 2022-23 there were 287,458 crimes committed, up from 245,402 in 2021-22.

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