Victoria’s crime statistics are heading in the right direction, Jesuit Social Services says, but the drivers of crime identified by police – mental health problems, illicit drugs and reoffending – need responses that go beyond policing.
Crime Statistics Agency data released today shows alleged offender incidents involving 10 to 17 year olds fell 9% in the year to June 2026, to 22,002. Young people account for 11% of all alleged offender incidents, down from 13%. The rise in alleged offending was driven by adults aged 25 and over.
Fewer Victorians are being harmed. The victimisation rate fell 7.6%, and person-related victim reports fell 6% to 263,746. Yet unique alleged offenders rose 6.5% to 78,458, and Victoria Police says it arrested 27,092 people a combined 77,175 times, a record high.
“Fewer people are being harmed, and fewer children are coming to police attention. That is good news, and we should build on it,” said Jesuit Social Services CEO Julie Edwards.
“But when people are being arrested roughly three times each on average, the system is cycling the same people through rather than preventing harm. Victoria Police identified mental health problems and illicit drugs as key drivers of crime. Those are health issues, and they need health responses.”
Investment is weighted heavily towards the wrong end of the system, for adults and children alike. Between 2016-17 and 2024-25, Victoria spent $2 billion on youth detention and it now costs $7,304 per day for each child in custody, the highest in Australia.
“No single program, and no single department, can prevent crime alone,” Ms Edwards said. “To ensure any reductions in crime can be sustained over the longer term, we need adequate funding for schools, health, mental health, child protection, housing and other support systems that prevent offending at every age.”
The statistics show that family and gender-based violence remain a very significant cause of harm in Victoria with 102,830 family incidents, a 3.4% drop from the year previous. Family violence is still the single largest source of recorded assault in Victoria at 26,480 total recorded family violence related assaults, and a 15.8% rise in family violence related serious assaults.
“While we welcome any reduction in family violence offending, the sheer number of offences recorded shows the scale of the issue we are facing,” Ms Edwards said.
“We need to do more to prevent violence and intervene earlier with people who are showing signs of using, or at higher risk of using, violence – especially young people. If we want to reduce violence and make our community safer for everyone, we need to shift our investment away from prisons and courts and towards prevention and early intervention – the approaches the evidence tells us actually sustain reductions in crime and build community safety.”
