The Australian Institute of Criminology has released new research examining drivers of the attrition of sexual offences, drawing on analyses of official police data and interviews with police and service providers.
- Aggravated sexual offences are more likely to be withdrawn or unfounded, while investigations which include an investigator with specialist training and which involve referring victims to external support services are less likely to involve unfounded offences.
- Police workload, competing priorities and inadequate equipment, resourcing and training were found to contribute to the attrition of sexual offences.
- Outside of the police, broader system-level factors such as long wait times for medical care and prosecutorial decision-making were also found to underpin the attrition of sexual offences.
Summary paper: Attrition of sexual offence cases in police investigations
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