Sydney, Feb. 15 (People’s Daily Online / Shengyin Li) - Australian’s crime rates has declined comparing with a decade ago, according to the latest crime survey released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).

The personal and household crime rates in Australia dropped in 2017-18 compared with 2008-09, based on the national Crime Victimisation Survey conducted by the ABS.

Approximately, 5 percent of Australians aged 15 years and over, around 966,600 people, experienced different sort of personal crime during the latest survey year.

Moreover, an estimated 11 percent of Australian households experienced a selected household crime. The police reporting rate of household crime overall is higher than personal crimes.

"Results from the tenth annual Crime Victimisation Survey showed a national decrease of 23 percent for physical assault, 33 percent for threatened assault, and 50 percent for robbery over the last decade, although the rate of sexual assault has remained steady,” said William Milne of the ABS’ National Centre for Crime and Justice Statistics.

“All household crimes types captured in the survey also show a decrease in 2017-18 compared to a decade ago,” Mr Milne said.

Motor vehicle theft has the lowest crime rate among all other six types of household crimes, however, it has the highest police reporting rate of 95 percent.

Alcohol is still one of the contributing factors to the incidents of assault. The survey showed 55 percent of respondents aged 18 or over believed that alcohol or any other substance contributed to their most recent physical assaults.