Most North East towns see increase in domestic violence during COVID

In Benalla, there was a shocking 48 per cent increase in reported domestic violence incidents, from 325 reports in 2019 to 481 in 2020.

There was a 20 per cent increase in reports of domestic violence in Wangaratta City, with police called to 625 incidents in 2020 compared to 521 in 2019.

Family violence offences also rose 24 per cent in Alpine Shire and 13 per cent in Indigo Shire.

In Wodonga, Towong and Moira the number of domestic violence reports decreased, however the municipalities still recorded 853, 52 and 447 incidents respectively.

Across the state the number of domestic violence reports increased by nine per cent in 2020.

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The number of Family Violence Orders breaches also increased in Alpine, Benalla, Moira, Towong and Wangaratta, and remained one of the most common offences in other North East towns.

Police recorded 189 breaches of Family Violence Orders in Wodonga, 171 in Wangaratta, 12 in Towong, 160 in Moira, 36 in Indigo, 120 in Benalla, and 42 in Alpine.

Wodonga police issued 251 fines for COVID restriction breaches, while 122 were recorded in the Moira local government area, 112 in Wangaratta, 35 in Alpine, 27 in Benalla and two in the Towong municipality. Across the state 37,505 coronavirus offences were recorded in the year to December 2020.

Many of the 26,497 offenders were caught multiple times and 92 per cent received a Penalty Infringement Notice.

Overall the number of crimes reported decreased in Wodonga, Wangaratta, Moira and Alpine shires, but increased in Benalla and Towong.

The number of criminal incidents rose 4.4 per cent across Victoria in 2020.

However, excluding COVID-19 breach offences, there was an overall eight per cent decrease in crime during the pandemic in part due to stay at home restrictions.