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. Below are Broken Hill's 12 major offences for the 12 months from April 2025 to March 2026 (the year ending March 2026), with each rate (per 100,000 people) placed next to the NSW rate. The 'vs NSW' column is Broken Hill's rate divided by the NSW rate: 1.0 means the same as NSW, below 1.0 is lower than NSW, above 1.0 is higher.
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.
- Reporting period
- April 2025 to March 2026 (12 months)Latest BOCSAR recorded-crime release.
- How Broken Hill compares
- 1 of 12 major offences below the NSW rateHighest relative rates: domestic violence assault 3.75×, malicious damage 3.26×, break & enter (non-dwelling) 3.10×, break & enter (dwelling) 2.93×. Only motor vehicle theft (0.87×) sits below the NSW rate.
- Context
- Small, remote population (~17,500)Rates are per 100,000 residents; in a small city a handful of incidents move the rate sharply. See the note below.
- Local policing
- Barrier Police DistrictConfirm the exact command boundary on the BOCSAR mapping tool.
- Latest figures & other areas
- BOCSAR Crime Mapping ToolBuild a tailored report and compare any LGA to the NSW rate.
| Offence | Incidents | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Malicious damage to property | 317 | 1807.2 | 554.7 | 3.26× |
| Domestic violence related assault | 297 | 1693.2 | 451.9 | 3.75× |
| Other stealing offences | 141 | 803.8 | 463.1 | 1.74× |
| Non-DV related assault | 118 | 672.7 | 401.8 | 1.67× |
| Break & enter (dwelling) | 109 | 621.4 | 212.3 | 2.93× |
| Steal from retail store | 95 | 541.6 | 372.5 | 1.45× |
| Steal from motor vehicle | 89 | 507.4 | 295.5 | 1.72× |
| Break & enter (non-dwelling) | 50 | 285.0 | 91.8 | 3.10× |
| Sexual assault | 40 | 228.0 | 154.4 | 1.48× |
| Sexual touching & other sexual offences | 37 | 210.9 | 104.1 | 2.03× |
| Motor vehicle theft | 26 | 148.2 | 171.2 | 0.87× |
| Robbery | 4 | 22.8 | 20.6 | 1.11× |
Major offences in Broken Hill vs the NSW rate, per 100,000 population, for the 12 months from April 2025 to March 2026. Source: BOCSAR LGA & NSW recorded-crime tables. 'vs NSW' = Broken Hill rate ÷ NSW rate.
BOCSAR reports recorded incidents per resident population and does not adjust for socio-economic factors. Broken Hill is a small, remote city (about 17,500 residents) with known socio-economic disadvantage, and small populations make per-100,000 rates volatile — a small number of incidents can produce a high rate, and the figures can swing between periods. These are recorded incidents, not convictions, and counts move with population and reporting. BOCSAR calculates rates only for these 'major offences', so high-volume justice offences (e.g. breach of bail or AVO) aren't rate-compared here. For the latest figures, trends and context, use BOCSAR's tools below.
Sources — check it yourself
- BOCSAR — Broken Hill LGA crime table (XLSX) · Apr 2025 to Mar 2026
- BOCSAR — NSW recorded-crime table (XLSX) · Apr 2025 to Mar 2026
- BOCSAR — Crime statistics by LGA · Updated quarterly
- BOCSAR — Crime Mapping Tool (compare to NSW)
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.