THE latest data from the NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research (BOCSAR) has shown a drop of many categories of offending in Cabonne Shire.
Released last week, the new data covers up until the end of June this year and shows drops in assaults – both domestic and non-domestic violence-related.
Yet the numbers also show an increase in reported cases of thefts and robbery, sexual assaults, and malicious damage in the Shire.
However there are two key issues that call the numbers into question: people’s willingness to report crimes, and the small numbers of listed offences.
“Many crimes which occur are not reported to police and will therefore not be recorded,” an explainer that was issued with the report said.
“For example, a large number of assaults, sexual assaults and robberies are not reported to police.
“Recorded crime rates in Local Government Areas with small population sizes are not always a good indicator of offending.
“Crime rates in areas with populations under 3000 may be unreliable and should be interpreted with caution.”
While there were no murders or cases of robbery in Cabonne Shire in the last two years between July 2024 and June 2026, there were other acts of interpersonal violence.
Domestic violence-related assaults were the most frequent offence, with 66 in 2024/25 and 54 in 2025/26 – a drop of 18.2 per cent.
However, the 12 months to the end of June 2026 saw malicious damage to property take over as the most often reported crime in that reporting period with 58 cases, up 5.5 per cent.
Other reported offending numbers were so low as to make them statistically less meaningful.
For example, thefts from cars were up 100 per cent year-on-year, going from eight to 16 while shoplifting jumped from zero reported cases in 2024/25 to four by 30 June 2026.
Break and enters into homes were up by one, going from 15 to 16 or 6.7 per cent, and in non-dwelling the numbers were even higher going from 18 to 21 or 16.7 per cent.
One local resident who said she had been a victim of a minor crime noted the reason she chose not to report the offences was that she didn’t know when the local police station was staffed.
No towns in Cabonne have a 24-hour staffed police station, with officers being dispatched from Orange, Parkes or Cowra as needed.
Data from surrounding municipalities saw stealing from cars, shoplifting, and other stealing offences up in Orange at +64.4 per cent, +54.3 per cent and +11.8 per cent respectively.
In Parkes there were jumps in break-ins into non-dwellings – up 68.2 per cent, sexual assaults – up 42.3 per cent, and other stealing offences were up by 9.3 per cent.
Across in Forbes it was assaults that saw increases with domestic violence-related assault jumping by 33.3 per cent, non-DV assault up by more than 12 per cent and sexual assault increasing by 31.6 per cent.
While down in Cabonne, the regional and statewide increase in domestic violence-related offences was to a number of factors.
“The increase in domestic violence charges is due to both a rise in recorded incidents of intimidation and ADVO breaches, plus a greater likelihood that DV assault suspects will face court action when those incidents are reported,” said BOCSAR executive director Jackie Fitzgerald.
Overall, while the underlying statewide crime numbers were much the same, Ms Fitzgerald said more cases were making it before the courts.
“Although crime rates were largely unchanged, the number of adults being brought before the courts increased substantially,” she said.
“This represents a marked acceleration in charges compared with the longer-term trend. Adult court proceedings rose by 11.6 per cent in just two years, compared with average annual growth of 2.7 per cent over the past decade.
“The increase was widespread, with adult court proceedings rising across every metropolitan and regional area of NSW.”