A brawl reportedly involving up to 200 people in the Melbourne suburb of Collingwood has reignited the debate about crime in Victoria and, in particular, offending by African Australians.
Ms Nyuon's claim checks out. Between April 2017 and March 2018, they made up a combined 73.5 per cent of the unique offender population (those people alleged to have committed crimes) in Victoria; whereas, those born in Sudan made up 1.1 per cent. Experts told Fact Check that statistics from the CSA were an accurate representation of Victoria's offender characteristics. Monash University Associate Professor in Criminology Rebecca Wickes said: "1 per cent of offences are being committed by those who have reported being born in South Sudan. That is accurate." Melbourne University Professor of Criminology Mark Woods said: "Nyadol Nyuon's claim is correct; the overwhelming majority of crime in Victoria is committed by Australian-born offenders." This fact reflects population statistics more generally: Australian-born and New Zealand-born people account for 64.8 per cent and 1.6 per cent of Victoria's population, respectively. In percentage terms, there is a greater disparity between population and crime rates for people born in Sudan and South Sudan, who make up just 0.14 per cent of Victoria's population. However, experts stressed that discussions surrounding this issue fail to take into account the age profile of the Sudanese population in Victoria, which helps explain their overrepresentation in the crime statistics.
Fact check: Do Sudanese people account for only 1 per cent of crimes committed in Victoria?
['Melbourne', 'Victoria_(Australia)', 'Collingwood_Football_Club']