30611 (2023). Hon Dr Duncan Webb to the Minister of Justice

30611 (2023). Hon Dr Duncan Webb to the Minister of Justice: Does the Minister agree with the Ministry of Justice that the New Zealand Crime & Victims Survey “…is the only reliable way for the Ministry of Justice to understand the full picture of victimisation in New Zealand as not all crimes are reported to the Police”?

Hon Paul Goldsmith: The NZCVS is a valuable source of insights because it provides an understanding of both reported and unreported crime, reasons why victims did or did not report, as well as a variety of demographic details. This is important as over 75% of crime is not reported to Police. The NZCVS covers household offences (burglary, theft and property damage, and trespass) and personal offences (fraud and deception, cybercrime, sexual assault, harassment and threatening behaviour, assault, robbery, and theft and damage). The crimes not measured by the survey are homicide, crimes against businesses, drug offences and traffic offences. Homicide and crimes against businesses including ramraids are very likely to be reported, so Police data provides reliable estimates. Crimes such as traffic offences and drug offences may be subject to some under reporting, but they are not suitable for measuring in a survey of victims as there is no direct victim, so Police data remains the best estimate for them too.