Cybercrime in Australia 2024
Isabella Voce, Anthony S. Morgan · Australian Institute of Criminology eBooks · 2025
This is the second report in the Cybercrime in Australia series, which describes cybercrime victimisation, help-seeking and harms among Australian computer users. This year, 10,335 online Australians participated in the Australian Cybercrime Survey. Overall, we found that rates of victimisation remain high, formal help-seeking remains low, and a large proportion of victims are negatively impacted by cybercrime. Twenty-seven percent of respondents had been a victim of online abuse and harassment in the 12 months prior to the survey, 20.6 percent had been a victim of malware, 21.9 percent had been a victim of identity crime and misuse, and 9.5 percent had been a victim of fraud and scams. The prevalence of online abuse and harassment, malware and fraud and scams was lower among 2024 respondents than in the 2023 survey. Poly-victimisation was also lower this year, and we observed a significant decrease in data breaches. As with last year, certain sections of the community were more likely than others to fall victim. A smaller proportion of respondents who owned or operated a small to medium business were victims of malware and fraud and scams in 2024 than in 2023. However, respondents were less likely in 2024 than in 2023 to say they were using various online safety strategies, and there was little change in the prevalence of high-risk online behaviours. While most cybercrime continues to go unreported, a higher proportion of respondents sought help from police or ReportCyber for certain types of cybercrime, particularly among small to medium business owners and operators. Victims were more likely to recover money from identity crime and misuse incidents in 2024 than in 2023. A higher proportion of victims reported being negatively impacted by cybercrime in 2024, particularly for social and health related harms.