THERE has been an increase in family violence incidents reported in Greater Bendigo, but other types of offending have decreased in the region.
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The Crime Statistics Agency data for the year ending June 2020 - which was released on Thursday - showed Greater Bendigo's total number of offences dropped from 11,250 in 2019 to 11,216 in 2020.
But family violence incidents in the municipality rose from 1914 in 2019 to 2040 in 2020 - an increase of 6.6 per cent.
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The data showed 1558 women were the affected persons in family violence incidents. The most prevalent age groups for affected persons were people between the ages of 35 and 44.
Centre for Non-Violence chief executive Margaret Augerinos said the latest statistics reflected the increased number of women the service was working with.
"Increased reporting shows increased awareness about family and domestic violence, and increased confidence that the system will support victim survivors," Ms Augerinos said.
"An increase in the number of breaches reflects the strong effort by Victoria Police not to tolerate breachers of intervention orders.
"We know that when people start to breach orders, it indicates high risk for women.
"Non-compliance with legal orders is a significant risk factor, so it's positive that police are responding and taking action to keep women and children safe."
Deputy Commissioner of regional operations Rick Nugent said more specialist police officers had been tasked to family violence units in the past couple of years.
"The crime is under-reported so you want to create an environment where the community feels comfortable to report," he said.
"We believe this family violence has existed for years and years. Us being more proactive makes the community more confident to report crime. It also allows us to enforce those who have those orders."
Other offending that increased in Greater Bendigo in the past 12 months was criminal damage offences, which rose from 845 offences in 2019 to 949 offences in 2020.
Theft from a motor vehicles and residential non-aggravated burglaries also increased in Greater Bendigo.
The most prevalent type of offending was family violence order breaches, but the numbers were down from 1241 in 2019 to 1186 in 2020.
Most of the offending in Greater Bendigo took place in the suburb of Bendigo, with 3032 offences recorded.
There was also an increase in offending in Long Gully with 743 offences recorded in the year to June 2020.
Other news:
Centre for Non-Violence covers the Loddon region and can be contacted on 1800 884 292.
The 24-hour statewide safe steps family violence crisis response line is 1800 015 188 and the Men's Referral Service is on 1300 766 491.
In an emergency, call 000.
Mount Alexander Shire
The number of offences in the Mount Alexander region remained steady in the year to June 2020, with 1103 offences recorded for the second year in a row.
Obtaining benefit by deception offences increased from 41 cases in 2019 to 90 in 2020.
Drug possession charges also rose from 44 offences in 2019 to 68 in 2020.
Family violence incidents decreased by 10 per cent in Mount Alexander, with 190 incidents reported in 2020 compared to 211 in 2019.
Macedon Ranges Shire
Family violence order breaches were the most prevalent offence recorded in Macedon Ranges, with 320 offences in 2020 compared to 276 in the previous year.
Family violence incidents also increased by 2.4 per cent to 466 cases in 2020.
Total offences were down by 1.8 per cent for the year ending June 2020.
Campaspe Shire
Total offences in the Campaspe region dropped by six per cent in the year ending June 2020.
There were 3878 offences recorded in 2020, compared to 4125 in the previous year.
The most common offence was sexual offences, where there was a significant increase from 138 offences in 2019 to 605 in 2020.
Family violence incidents reported in the Campaspe region also increased by 3.3 per cent in 2020.
More court and crime news:
Central Goldfields Shire
There was a 5.5 per cent decrease in Central Goldfield's total offences in the year ending June 2020.
There were 1244 offences recorded this year compared to 1317 offences in 2019.
Family violence order breaches were again the most prevalent crime, with 245 offences recorded in 2020 compared to 228 in the previous year.
But family violence cases dropped by 6.9 per cent to 377 cases in 2020.
Loddon Shire
Total recorded offences increased in Loddon by 1.4 per cent in the year ending June 2020.
The most common offence was family violence order breaches, with 83 offences recorded in 2020 compared to 46 in the previous year.
Theft from a motor vehicle offences also increased to 33 offences in 2020.
But the number of reported family violence incidents decreased by 12.5 per cent, from 120 in 2019 to 105 in 2020.
Gannawarra Shire
The most prevalent offence in Gannawarra was family violence order breaches, although those numbers were down from 137 offences in 2019 to 100 in 2020.
Breaching bail conditions and drug possession offences increased in the region in the year ending June 2020.
The number of family violence incidents in the Gannawarra region dropped by 26 per cent in 2020 - from 273 cases in 2019 to 202 incidents this year.
Total offences decreased from 896 in 2019 to 775 this year.
Buloke Shire
There was a 44.7 per cent increase in the total number of offences recorded in the Buloke shire in 2020.
There were 366 offences recorded in the shire, an increase from 253 in the previous year.
The number of drug possession, theft, theft from a motor vehicle, criminal damage, and sexual offences all increased.
Most of the offending took place in Donald, where 154 offences were recorded in 2020.
But the number of family violence incidents in the Buloke shire dropped by 1.8 per cent in the year ending June 2020.