Crime stats reveal growing problem

The Northern Beaches has seen the second highest increase in Sydney for a disturbing crime.

The NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research (BOCSAR) has today (Tuesday, 18 March) released the crime statistics for NSW up to 31 December 2024.

Revealed in those statistics is a shocking 20.9 percent increase over the past two years in domestic violence related assault for the Northern Beaches Local Government Area (LGA), the second highest increase in all of NSW.

The underlying cause for the increase is not revealed in the numbers, but it is expected that increased cost of living pressures on families with large mortgages and struggling small businesses has been putting pressure on households.

Northern Beaches Women’s Shelter (NBWS) Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Narelle Hand (image above) said the uplift in domestic violence crime was confronting but not surprising to those dealing with victims.

“It’s really confronting to hear this two-year trend but sadly the statistics are not surprising. We are seeing more women, and women with children, needing crisis accommodation so that they can leave domestic and family violence situations they are experiencing.

“This is why we had to triple our capacity and took on the Narrabeen House project. This low-cost accommodation was to ensure we always had enough availability in our crisis accommodation for those that were presenting in very unsafe situations.

“These BOCSAR stats are the reported incidents, we don’t know how many people are experiencing domestic and family violence right now in our area, but what we do know is it’s on the rise.

“With all of the early intervention and post crisis work that has been done, we are still seeing a lot of people that need crisis accommodation and crisis service support. Our crisis services are still very much underfunded for the core vital work that we do, but we are always looking to be innovative.

“The Northern Beaches police do an incredible job and should be acknowledged, because if we are seeing a 20.9 percent increase in the statistics, that means our police are having to respond to the increased incidents. We are all stretched.

“We also need to acknowledge that men are experiencing domestic violence as well and there’s a huge lack of service support for men in our area that are victims of domestic violence.

“It’s a growing problem but services are committed to doing whatever we can to try and reduce the amount of people experiencing domestic and family violence, which is why we continue to work towards the
#BeachesSaysNoToViolenceCampaign,” said Ms Hand.

While domestic violence has significantly increased over the two-year period, in better news for the Northern Beaches, other areas of crime have remained stable and at lower levels than the rest of NSW. Incidence of crime per 100k people is between 0.3 and 0.7 times that of other LGAs.

Major offences for the 12 months to 31 December 2024:

Images: Northern Beaches Advocate

The Northern Beaches Women's Shelter is a community run service providing crisis support to victims of domestic and family violence. Their aim is to support women facing homelessness to allow them to rebuild their lives, reclaim their independence and rejoin society. According to 2024 data, less than five percent of their operating budget comes from government funding. If you have the capacity to support their service, please donate now.

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