Domestic violence is the silent killer in NSW murder statistics

Minn. is expected to announce a domestic violence program as a key part of Tuesday’s state budget. This couldn’t have happened sooner.

Violence against women has become a political issue following the April 13 stabbing attack in Bondi Junction, which killed five women and one man. This was followed by the murder of New South Wales woman Molly Ticehurst by a former partner who was released on bail despite sexual assault charges. And now new data links the worrying rise in women killed by their partners to NSW murder statistics.

Using data from the NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research between 2014 and 2024, the Herald has constructed a series of interactive maps based on Sydney postcodes as well as regional local government areas, identifying where murders physically took place, murder victims from that area and residents accused of committing a murder.

A disproportionate number of murders took place in suburbs and areas where many people are trapped in socioeconomic disadvantage: for example, 17 people were killed in the 2770 ZIP code, centered on Mount Druitt but encompassing also smaller satellite suburbs. It was the highest number of murders in any postcode in NSW. The Liverpool (14) and Bankstown (13) postcodes had the next highest figures. Ten people were murdered in the Sydney CBD, including nine in Green Valley, eight each in Wentworthville and Guildford and six each in Parramatta, Peakhurst, St Marys, Kings Langley and Bossley Park. Outside of Sydney, the Central Coast recorded 31 murders, Newcastle 23, Lake Macquarie, Tweed and Wollongong 16 each and Shoalhaven nine.

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But despite tabloid hysteria over a murder and politicians’ desire to defend law and order, the truth is that Sydney is a relatively safe city. BOCSAR data shows that 762 murders took place during the decade. In contrast, FBI statistics for New York, a city just twice the size of Sydney, recorded 6,803 murders in the period 2010-2019.

BOCSAR executive director Jackie Fitzgerald said murder rates in NSW hit an all-time low during the pandemic and were down 6.5 per cent over the decade. “There has been a bit of a rebound, but there are still a lot fewer of us than before,” she said. “Going back to March 1996, 130 people were murdered – that’s actually half that number today.”

However, one of the key takeaways from the BOCSAR data is the increase in the number of women killed by their partners. The incidence of domestic violence-related murders has declined over the past decade, but in 2022-23 the number of women killed increased by 28% across Australia. Of the 17 murders that occurred in the 2770 zip code of Mount Druitt, seven were deaths due to domestic violence. Domestic violence murders were also heartbreaking in Liverpool (7 of 14), Wyong (5 of 9), Blacktown (2 of 3), Newcastle (10 of 23) and St Marys (3 of 6).

Whatever Tuesday’s budget reveals, domestic violence funding in NSW is dwarfed by that spent in Victoria. Budget figures reveal NSW allocated $417.2 million in the 2022-23 financial year, compared to Victoria’s $613 million. Victoria invested money into tackling domestic violence after holding a royal commission following the 2014 murder of Rosie Batty’s son Luke by his father.