Murder Rate in Australia 2025 | Homicide Statistics

Murder Rate in Australia 2025

The murder rate in Australia remains among the lowest globally, yet recent trends reveal concerning developments that demand careful examination and policy responses. Throughout 2024 and into 2025, Australia experienced fluctuations in homicide patterns, with certain states recording their highest murder totals in over a decade while the nation overall maintains its reputation as one of the world’s safest countries. Understanding these statistics provides crucial insights into public safety, domestic violence trends, and the effectiveness of law enforcement strategies across the continent.

Australian homicide data collected from police services nationwide, the Australian Bureau of Statistics, and the Australian Institute of Criminology’s National Homicide Monitoring Program reveals that 448 victims of homicide and related offences were recorded in 2024, representing a 9% increase from the previous year. Despite this uptick, the national victimisation rate remained stable at 2 victims per 100,000 persons, significantly lower than comparable nations. The data encompasses murder, attempted murder, and manslaughter, with family and domestic violence accounting for nearly 40% of all cases, highlighting that the greatest threat to personal safety often comes from within intimate relationships rather than from strangers on the street.

Interesting Facts and Latest Murder Statistics in Australia 2024-2025

Data Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) Recorded Crime – Victims 2024; Australian Institute of Criminology National Homicide Monitoring Program 2023-24; NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research 2024; State Police Services

The 448 homicide victims recorded nationally in 2024 marks a 9% increase (adding 37 additional victims) from 2023‘s total of 411 victims, though the victimisation rate remained stable at 2 per 100,000 persons when accounting for population growth. This national figure encompasses all forms of unlawful killing including murder, attempted murder, and manslaughter as classified by state and territory police services. The distribution across Australian states and territories varied significantly, with New South Wales recording 124 homicide victims (combining murder and related offences), Victoria with 112 victims, Queensland 94 victims, and Western Australia 55 victims, demonstrating regional disparities in homicide patterns.

Family and domestic violence claimed 175 lives in 2024, representing 39% of all homicides recorded across Australia. Female victims predominated in domestic violence homicides, with 99 women and girls killed in family violence contexts, compared to 76 male victims. This stark gender disparity reflects the gendered nature of intimate partner violence, where women face disproportionate risk of fatal violence from current or former partners. The Australian Institute of Criminology documented 262 homicide incidents during the 2023-24 financial year (July to June period), involving 277 victims and 278 identified offenders, providing detailed insights into circumstances, relationships, and offender characteristics.

New South Wales experienced an exceptional spike with 85 murder victims recorded in 2024, the highest annual total since 2014 when the state recorded 93 murders. This represents a dramatic 47% increase from 2023‘s 58 murders, though authorities caution this elevation resulted primarily from an unusual clustering of 8 multiple-victim murder events accounting for 22 deaths, with half being domestic violence-related. The Bondi Junction Westfield stabbing attack in April 2024 alone accounted for 6 of these victims, demonstrating how single mass casualty events can significantly impact annual statistics.

National Murder and Homicide Trends in Australia 2023-2025

Data Source: Australian Institute of Criminology (AIC) Homicide in Australia 2023-24 Report; Australian Bureau of Statistics Recorded Crime – Victims 2024

The Australian Institute of Criminology’s National Homicide Monitoring Program, Australia’s only comprehensive national data collection on homicide incidents, recorded 262 homicide incidents between July 1, 2023, and June 30, 2024, marking an increase of 30 incidents from the 232 incidents recorded in 2022-23. This financial year calculation differs from calendar year statistics published by the Australian Bureau of Statistics, explaining apparent discrepancies in total figures. The 2023-24 period involved 277 homicide victims and 278 identified offenders, with 95% of homicides being single-victim incidents and approximately 73% involving a single victim and single offender.

Male victims comprised 69% (171 victims) of homicide cases in 2022-23, maintaining a consistent pattern where men face higher absolute numbers of homicide victimisation, with a male victimisation rate of 1.29 per 100,000 population. Female victims accounted for 30% (75 victims), with a victimisation rate that, while lower in absolute numbers, reflects different risk profiles. Women are substantially more likely to be killed by intimate partners or family members, while men more commonly die in acquaintance or stranger homicides. The gender gap narrows significantly when examining only domestic and family violence homicides, where female victims predominate.

Domestic homicide accounted for 88 separate incidents resulting in 90 victims during the 2023-24 financial year, representing a substantial proportion of all homicide incidents. The female intimate partner homicide rate stood at 0.43 per 100,000 in 2023-24, an increase from the 0.32 per 100,000 rate recorded in previous periods, indicating concerning deterioration in outcomes for women at risk from current or former partners. These domestic homicides include intimate partner violence as well as killings involving other family members, with children, parents, and siblings all represented in victim statistics.

Clearance rates for homicide investigations remain high compared to other crime categories, with police solving between 89% and 92% of homicide cases through arrests, charges, or identifying deceased offenders in murder-suicide situations. The 2022-23 clearance rate reached 91% nationally, with 89% of male-victim homicides and 93% of female-victim homicides resolved. These elevated clearance rates reflect the substantial investigative resources police dedicate to homicide cases, the availability of forensic evidence, and the fact that most victims knew their killers, making suspect identification more straightforward than in stranger crimes.

State-by-State Murder Rates in Australia 2024-2025

Data Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics Recorded Crime – Victims 2024; NSW BOCSAR; State Police Services; Australian Institute of Criminology 2022-23 Report

New South Wales dominated national attention in 2024 by recording 85 murder victims, the state’s highest annual total since 2014‘s 93 murders and a shocking 47% increase from 2023‘s 58 murders. The NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research (BOCSAR) attributed this spike to an unusually high number of multiple-victim murder events, with 8 incidents involving 2 or more victims resulting in 22 deaths. By comparison, the 14-year period from 2010 to 2023 averaged only 2 multiple-victim murder events annually (ranging from 0 to 5 events) producing an average of 5 victims. The 63 single-victim murders in 2024 aligned with historical averages of 67 single-victim events from 2010-2023, indicating the elevation resulted from these cluster incidents rather than a broad increase in murder frequency.

Sydney’s eastern suburbs recorded the highest concentration of murders in New South Wales, predominantly due to the Bondi Junction Westfield shopping center stabbing attack on April 13, 2024, where a lone offender killed 6 people and injured numerous others before being shot by police. This single incident accounted for 6 of the 9 murders in the eastern suburbs area, demonstrating how mass casualty events dramatically distort regional statistics. Of the 85 NSW murder victims, 46 were men, 26 were women, and 13 were children or young people, with 45.9% (39 victims) classified as domestic violence-related, consistent with national patterns.

Victoria recorded 112 homicide and related offence victims in 2024, though specific murder-only figures require separation from attempted murder and manslaughter categories. Approximately 33% (37 victims) were family and domestic violence-related, a lower proportion than some other states. Victoria’s overall crime landscape saw record increases in property offences and assaults during 2024, with criminal incidents reaching unprecedented levels, though homicide trends showed more moderation. The state’s per capita homicide rate remains below the national average, maintaining Melbourne’s reputation as one of Australia’s safer major cities for serious violent crime.

Queensland experienced a decrease in homicide victims, recording 94 victims in 2024, down 17 victims from 2023‘s total of 111 victims. This 15% reduction bucked the national trend of increasing homicides and suggests Queensland’s targeted policing operations and crime prevention initiatives may be yielding results. Approximately 46% (43 victims) of Queensland homicides were family and domestic violence-related, a proportion slightly higher than Victoria but below Western Australia. The 2023-24 Queensland Crime Report noted 51 homicides (murder) recorded during the financial year, a decrease from previous periods, with the majority classified as 60% attempted murder among related offences.

Western Australia recorded 55 homicide victims in 2024, a decrease of 13 victims from the previous year’s 68 victims, representing a 19% reduction. Approximately 40% (22 victims) were classified as family and domestic violence-related. WA maintained one of the higher per capita homicide rates among Australian states in 2022-23 at 1.46 per 100,000, second only to the Northern Territory’s dramatically elevated rate. The state’s declining homicide numbers in 2024 represent positive progress after elevated levels in recent years.

Northern Territory consistently records Australia’s highest per capita homicide rate, with 4.36 per 100,000 population in 2022-23, more than four times the national average. The Territory’s small population base means individual incidents create substantial percentage variations, but the persistent elevation reflects serious social challenges including alcohol and substance abuse, socioeconomic disadvantage, and limited service access in remote communities. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians, who comprise approximately 30% of the NT population, face disproportionate homicide victimisation and offending rates, though this partly reflects the jurisdiction’s demographics and unique challenges.

Australian Capital Territory maintains Australia’s lowest homicide rate at 0.64 per 100,000 in 2022-23, with typically fewer than 5 homicide incidents annually in this small jurisdiction. The ACT’s relatively affluent, well-educated population, high government employment, strong social services, and lack of remote/disadvantaged communities contribute to exceptionally low rates of serious violent crime including homicide.

Domestic and Family Violence Homicides in Australia 2024-2025

Data Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics 2024; Australian Institute of Criminology National Homicide Monitoring Program 2023-24; NSW BOCSAR 2024

Domestic and family violence homicides claimed 175 Australian lives in 2024, representing 39% of all homicides and underscoring that the home environment poses the greatest lethal threat to many Australians, particularly women and children. This proportion has remained relatively stable over recent years, indicating persistent failure to prevent fatal family violence despite increased public awareness, additional funding for support services, and enhanced legal frameworks including domestic violence orders and coercive control legislation in several jurisdictions. The 39% figure significantly understates the true family violence burden, as many deaths initially classified as non-domestic may later be reclassified following investigation.

Female victims dominated domestic violence homicide statistics, with 99 women and girls killed in family violence contexts during 2024, compared to 76 male victims. However, the male victim category includes substantial numbers of child victims, with 30% (22 victims) of male domestic violence homicide victims aged 18 years and under, and 32% (23 victims) aged 55 years and over. The child victims often die alongside or after their mothers in murder-suicides or revenge killings by estranged partners, while elderly male victims include fathers killed by adult children or husbands in elder abuse situations, demonstrating the complexity of family violence beyond simple intimate partner dynamics.

Intimate partner homicides—murders involving current or former romantic partners—constitute the largest subcategory of domestic violence deaths. The female intimate partner homicide rate increased to 0.43 per 100,000 in 2023-24 from 0.32 per 100,000 in previous periods, representing a 34% increase that advocacy groups describe as a national crisis. In 2024, several high-profile intimate partner homicides garnered national media attention, with multiple incidents involving women killed by estranged partners despite active domestic violence intervention orders, raising questions about risk assessment processes, information sharing between agencies, and police responses to order breaches.

Multiple-victim domestic violence events contributed disproportionately to New South Wales’s elevated 2024 murder total, with 4 of the 8 multiple-victim murder incidents being family violence-related. These events typically involve perpetrators killing intimate partners and children before suiciding, or family annihilations where offenders murder multiple family members. Such incidents, while statistically uncommon, generate extensive trauma for surviving relatives and communities while highlighting risk factors including separation, custody disputes, financial stress, mental illness, substance abuse, and access to weapons that intersect to create lethal outcomes.

Coercive control legislation implemented in New South Wales during 2024 and being considered in other jurisdictions aims to criminalize patterns of controlling behavior that often precede physical violence and homicide. Research consistently shows that intimate partner homicides rarely occur without warning, with most perpetrators having engaged in prolonged campaigns of intimidation, monitoring, isolation, financial control, and threats before escalating to lethal violence. Properly identifying and responding to these warning signs offers the best opportunity to prevent domestic violence homicides, though resource constraints, victim reluctance to engage with systems, and inadequate risk assessment tools continue to impede prevention efforts.

Demographics of Murder Victims in Australia 2023-2025

Data Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics 2024; Australian Institute of Criminology 2022-23; NSW BOCSAR

Male victims comprised between 65% and 69% of homicide victims in 2023-2024, maintaining long-term patterns where men face higher absolute homicide risk. The male victimisation rate of 1.29 per 100,000 in 2022-23 exceeded female rates, though the contexts differ significantly. Men are more likely to be killed by acquaintances or strangers in conflicts involving alcohol, drugs, gangs, or disputes, while women face predominant risk from intimate partners and family members. This gender disparity in victim demographics has remained relatively consistent over the 30+ years of the National Homicide Monitoring Program, suggesting deeply entrenched social and behavioral patterns.

Age distribution shows that individuals aged 35-44 years represented 21% of homicide victims in recent years (85+ victims from available data), making this the most common age bracket for victimisation. However, age patterns differ by gender and context, with male victims spanning a wider age range while female intimate partner homicide victims cluster in younger-middle age brackets corresponding to relationship formation and dissolution periods. Children under 18 years accounted for 25 victims in 2022-23, including 19 boys and 6 girls, with most child homicides occurring within family contexts involving abuse, neglect, or being collateral victims in domestic violence scenarios.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians experience vastly disproportionate homicide victimisation across most jurisdictions, with the Northern Territory recording a homicide victimisation rate of 4.75 per 100,000 for the jurisdiction overall, though Indigenous-specific rates are substantially higher. The 2022-23 clearance rate for incidents involving Indigenous victims reached 91%, comparable to non-Indigenous victims, indicating police take these cases equally seriously though the sheer volume of Indigenous victimisation remains deeply problematic. Intergenerational trauma, socioeconomic disadvantage, alcohol and substance abuse, limited service access in remote communities, and systemic disadvantage all contribute to Indigenous overrepresentation in homicide statistics as both victims and offenders.

Location analysis reveals that 60% of homicides (268 victims in 2024) occurred in residential settings, with the victim’s or offender’s home being the most common murder location. This predominance of residential homicides directly reflects the domestic violence component, where intimate partner and family homicides naturally occur in shared living spaces. The remaining 40% of homicides occurred across diverse locations including public streets, commercial premises, parks, vehicles, and other settings. Public space homicides more commonly involve male victims, stranger or acquaintance relationships, and often link to nightlife areas, drug markets, or gang conflicts.

Weapon involvement featured in 54% of homicides recorded in 2023-2024, with 219+ victims killed using weapons. Knives or sharp instruments comprised approximately 24% of all homicides (98+ victims), making stabbing the most common weapon-involved homicide method. Firearms, while heavily regulated in Australia following the 1996 Port Arthur massacre and subsequent national firearms agreement, still feature in a minority of homicides, often involving illegal weapons, domestic violence contexts, or organized crime. Approximately 46% of homicides involved no weapons, with offenders using physical force including strangulation, beating, or other violence methods.

Murder Offender Characteristics in Australia 2022-2024

Data Source: Australian Institute of Criminology Statistical Report 46 – Homicide in Australia 2022-23

Male offenders committed 87% of homicides in 2022-23, with 225 identified male perpetrators producing a male offending rate of 1.94 per 100,000 population aged 10 years and over. This overwhelming male predominance has remained consistent across the 30+ year history of the National Homicide Monitoring Program, with male offenders consistently comprising 85-90% of all homicide perpetrators. The male offending pattern reflects broader patterns of violent crime, where males commit the vast majority of serious violence across all categories, linked to complex factors including socialization, masculinity norms, substance abuse, mental illness, gang involvement, and biological factors that researchers continue to examine.

Female offenders accounted for 13% of homicides in 2022-23, with 35 identified female perpetrators producing a female offending rate of 0.29 per 100,000 population aged 10 years and over. Female-perpetrated homicides typically involve different circumstances than male-perpetrated murders, with women more likely to kill intimate partners in self-defense or desperation following prolonged abuse, kill their own children in circumstances involving mental illness or severe stress, or act as accomplices to male offenders. Solo female perpetrators of stranger or acquaintance homicides remain exceptionally rare, comprising perhaps 1-2% of all homicides.

Age distribution among offenders shows that individuals aged 25-34 years represented 27% of identified homicide offenders in 2022-23 (71 offenders), making this the most common age bracket for committing murder. Male offenders showed concentration in this 25-34 age range (27%) as well as the younger 18-24 bracket (23%, or 52 offenders), while female offenders displayed somewhat different age distributions. The 35-44 age group accounted for 16% of offenders (36 individuals), with offending rates declining substantially in older age brackets as individuals age out of peak violence-prone periods.

Relationship to victims reveals distinct offender patterns, with 35% of male offenders (64 men) committing domestic homicides, most often against intimate partners (19% or 34 offenders killed current or former intimate partners). An additional 34% of male offenders (62 men) committed acquaintance homicides, killing people they knew through social networks, criminal associations, or casual contact. The remaining offenders killed family members other than intimate partners, or committed stranger homicides. These relationship patterns demonstrate that despite media focus on random violence, most murders involve perpetrators and victims who knew each other, often well.

Indigenous offenders are substantially overrepresented in homicide perpetrator statistics, though precise proportions vary by jurisdiction and data collection methodology. Changes to how New South Wales Police record Indigenous status, from requiring 80% of police interactions showing Indigenous identification to recording anyone who has ever identified as Indigenous, created increases in Indigenous offender numbers that partly reflect methodological changes rather than actual increased offending. Nonetheless, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians commit homicide at rates many times higher than non-Indigenous Australians, linked to intersecting factors of disadvantage, intergenerational trauma, substance abuse, mental illness, and limited opportunities.

Homicide Methods and Circumstances in Australia 2023-2025

Data Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics 2024; Australian Institute of Criminology 2022-23

Weapon involvement characterized 54% of Australian homicides in 2023-2024, with 219+ victims killed using implements or weapons. Knives and sharp instruments accounted for approximately 24% of all homicides (98+ victims), establishing stabbing as the most prevalent weapon-based homicide method in Australia. The predominance of knife homicides reflects both weapon availability—kitchen knives, hunting knives, and other bladed implements are ubiquitous in households and relatively unregulated—and their lethality in close-quarters violence typical of domestic disputes and personal conflicts. Knife attacks feature prominently in both domestic violence homicides and street violence between males.

Firearms feature less prominently in Australian homicides than in comparable nations like the United States, a direct result of strict gun control laws implemented following the 1996 Port Arthur massacre where 35 people were killed. The national firearms agreement led to buyback programs, licensing requirements, safe storage laws, and substantial restrictions on semi-automatic and automatic weapons. While specific 2024 firearm homicide data remains unpublished, historical patterns show that approximately 10-15% of homicides involve guns.

Disclaimer: This research report is compiled from publicly available sources. While reasonable efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, no representation or warranty, express or implied, is given as to the completeness or reliability of the information. We accept no liability for any errors, omissions, losses, or damages of any kind arising from the use of this report.

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