There have been dramatic increases in the reported cases of both murder, domestic violence assault, sexual assaults and sexual touching in the Inverell local government area in the 12 months leading up to September 2021.

But data released by the NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research (BOCSAR) shows a sharp decrease in all major crimes right across the state.

The COVID-19 lockdown measures influenced the decrease in major crimes, Minister for Police and Emergency Services David Elliott explained.

"Crimes including murder, robbery, stealing offences and malicious damage are all down significantly, and in the 24 months to September 2021, none of the 13 major crime categories was trending upwards," Mr Elliott said.

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There were 57 murder victims recorded in NSW in the year to September 2021; the lowest number since BOCSAR records commenced in 1990.

One of those murders was in Inverell. As a result, statistically, Inverell's homicide rate sits at 11.8 homicides per 100,000 population. The NSW average sits at one homicide per 100,00 population.

Jackie Fitzgerald, Executive Director at BOCSAR, said over the last 30 years, "there has been a significant long-term downward trend in the number of victims of murder".

"The highest number of murders recorded in a year was 126 in the year to September 1999, since then reports have declined steadily to the current low," she explained.

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Inverell's domestic violence assault ratio was also double and a half the state's average, with sexual assault and sexual touching just over double the average as well.

And while those numbers were higher than the average, Inverell worsened against its own 2020's figures as well.

In 2021, Inverell had 169 reports of domestic violence; a 16 per cent increase on last year's figure. There was a 45 per cent increase of sexual assault reports, up from 22 reports last year; and an increase of 23 per cent in sexual touching reports.

The Shire also more than doubled the state average in break and enters into buildings that were not homes.

However the numbers for Inverell are not completely disheartening: the data reveals there has been an impressive improvement - by 33.6 per cent - in the rate of break and enters into people's homes across the Inverell Local Government Area over the last two years.

In 2020, there were 107 cases reported of homes being broken into. In 2021, those reports went down to just 71.

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