CANBERRA, June 19 (Xinhua) -- The murder rate in Australia has fallen to a record low of one person per 100,000, according to the nation's Justice Minister Michael Keenan.
The Australian Institute of Crime's (AIC) latest National Homicide Monitoring Program (NHMP) report, released late on Sunday, showed that Australia's homicide rate was at a historic low and had decreased by 25 percent over the last 25 years.
The report said that in 2013-14, there were 238 homicides reported in Australia, compared to 307 in 1989-90 when the NHMP was first introduced. In 1990, Australia's population was approximately 16 million, while in 2013-14 it was at approximately 22 million.
The report also said that men "remained" over-represented as both victims and offenders, with 64 percent of homicide victims and 88 percent of offenders being male.
In a statement accompanying the report, Keenan said that homicide "is an abhorrent crime that is completely unacceptable" in Australian society.
"The report revealed that Australia's homicide rate has continued to decrease over the past 25 years and is currently at an all-time historic low of one victim per 100,000 of population," the minister said.
"The number of homicide victims and offenders has decreased by 25 percent and 19 percent respectively over the same period."
Australia's strict gun laws meant that knives were the most common murder weapons in Australia in 2013-14, being used in more than a third (37 percent) of cases, with guns used in 13 percent of murders - down from 25 percent in 1989-90, before the infamous Port Arthur Massacre in 1996 which led to the creation of the laws.
