Crime & safety
The authoritative source for crime in NSW is the Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research (BOCSAR), which publishes recorded incidents reported to or detected by NSW Police. For Bourke, BOCSAR publishes the incident counts but does not publish a rate per 100,000 people for any of the 12 major offences: every rate cell in its Bourke table reads 'nc' — not calculable — because the population is too small for a rate to be a reliable measure. That is BOCSAR's own decision about its own statistic. It is why the table below has no rate column, and it is important to read it for what it is: no rate published is not a low rate, and it is not a zero. The counts below are the real, published figures for the 12 months from April 2025 to March 2026.
New to these terms? Read them in plain English
- Rate per 100,000
- Crime counts adjusted for population, so different-sized places can be compared.
- Compared to NSW (×)
- How the local rate compares to the NSW average (1.0 = the same).
- Recorded incident
- An incident reported to police — not a proven charge or conviction.
- Major offence categories
- The high-level offence groups official rates are calculated for.
- Police Area Command / Police District
- The local NSW Police command responsible for an area.
- BOCSAR
- The official source of NSW recorded-crime data.
Safety at a glance
- Reporting period
- April 2025 to March 2026 (12 months)Latest BOCSAR recorded-crime release. These are recorded incidents, not convictions or charges.
- Total across the 12 major offences
- 574 recorded incidentsThe sum of the counts in the table below. BOCSAR's 'major offences' grouping excludes murder and does not include high-volume justice offences such as breach of bail or breach of an AVO.
- Why there is no rate column
- BOCSAR marks every rate for this LGA 'nc' (not calculable)BOCSAR suppresses the per-100,000 rate where the underlying population is too small for the rate to be reliable. A suppressed rate carries no information about whether the underlying rate is high or low, so we do not print one, estimate one, or compare Bourke with the NSW rate.
- What a small population does to a rate
- At a population of 2,349, a single incident is about 43 per 100,000This cuts both ways: one extra incident, or one fewer, moves a per-100,000 figure by roughly 43 points, which is why a rate built on these counts would swing sharply from year to year in either direction. Read the counts as counts.
- Reporting rates differ by offence
- Not every incident is reported to policeThe share of incidents that reach police varies a lot by offence type. This particularly affects domestic violence and sexual offences, where recorded counts are widely understood to understate what occurs, and it means counts reflect reporting behaviour as well as incidence.
- Local policing
- Central North Police District (NSW Police Western Region)The NSW Police directory places Bourke, Enngonia and Wanaaring police stations in the Central North Police District. Triple Zero (000) for emergencies; Police Assistance Line 131 444 for non-urgent matters; Crime Stoppers 1800 333 000.
| Offence | Recorded incidents |
|---|---|
| Domestic violence related assault | 131 |
| Break & enter (dwelling) | 116 |
| Malicious damage to property | 101 |
| Non-domestic violence related assault | 51 |
| Other stealing offences | 46 |
| Steal from retail store | 39 |
| Break & enter (non-dwelling) | 25 |
| Sexual assault | 22 |
| Steal from motor vehicle | 21 |
| Motor vehicle theft | 14 |
| Sexual touching & other sexual offences | 6 |
| Robbery | 2 |
Recorded incidents of the 12 BOCSAR major offences in the Bourke LGA, 12 months from April 2025 to March 2026, sorted by count. Source: BOCSAR LGA recorded-crime table. BOCSAR publishes no rate per 100,000 for this LGA, so no rate is shown.
These are recorded incidents, not convictions, for the 12 months to March 2026. A count of 0 in this table would be a published figure; a missing rate is not — BOCSAR publishes no per-100,000 rate for Bourke, so no comparison with the NSW rate appears here in any form. We publish the counts BOCSAR publishes and the caveats BOCSAR attaches to them, and we draw no conclusion from them. For trends over time, other offence types and the mapping tool, use BOCSAR's own tools below.
Sources — check it yourself
- BOCSAR — Bourke LGA crime table (XLSX) · Apr 2025 to Mar 2026
- BOCSAR — Crime statistics by LGA (index of Excel tables) · Updated quarterly
- BOCSAR — Crime Mapping Tool
- NSW Police Force — regions, commands and districts
Figures are current as at the dates shown and may change — always confirm with the linked source. See the notice at the bottom of the page for full details and how to report a correction.