General News
24 June, 2025
Central Goldfields Shire locals faced with family violence reality, data shows
Family violence remains a significant problem for the Central Goldfields Shire with a “sharp rise” in family violence order breaches driving local crime statistics.
In data recently released by the Crime Statistics Agency (CSA), there were 1,116 criminal incidents and 1,699 offences recorded for the year ending in March 2025.
Compared to last year, the Central Goldfields saw an 18.2 percent increase in criminal incidents and 20.8 percent increase for total offences recorded.
Put simply, the difference between criminal incidents and recorded offences is that criminal incidents can include multiple offences whereas recorded offences are any criminal act the state’s legal system could impose a penalty on.
The data reflects a slight rise in overall crime locally, according to Central Goldfields Local Area Commander Inspector Bradley Hiatt, who attributes the increase largely to a rise in family violence order breaches.
There were 348 breaches of family violence orders, up from 177 last year, and the highest shown since 2016.
“The increase in breaches is partly due to growing community confidence in reporting family violence, as well as proactive policing efforts — with officers actively knocking on the doors of known perpetrators to monitor compliance,” he said.
The shire’s challenges with family violence are most plainly shown in family incidents, which are incidents attended by police and recorded in a Victoria Police Risk Assessment and Risk Management Report (also known as a L17 form).
Compared to the state’s rate per 100,000 population, the Central Goldfields is almost double in a consistent trend since 2021 and ongoing challenge for the shire.
That equates to 1,497.1 for the state compared to the shire’s 2,726.7 per 100,000 population.
Perhaps driven by this trend the home is where most criminal incidents and recorded offences take place — from 519 for the latter in 2024 to 689.
While affected family members, the person deemed to be affected by the event, of family incidents ranges across all ages the 25 to 34-year-old bracket continues to take up the largest portion at 95 people.
While the 35 to 54 age group all saw declining numbers compared to last year, with 45 to 54-year-olds returning to 58 people as seen in 2023, the 55+ group has been increasingly represented this year.
From 40 people in 2024 the data shows an increase to 77 people in 2025, the highest since 2021.
The prevalence of family violence in the shire, reflected in the recent statistics, will remain a priority for local police according to Central Goldfields Local Area Commander Inspector Hiatt.
“Family violence remains a top priority for local police, who continue to work tirelessly to protect victim-survivors and hold perpetrators to account,” he said.