More than a third of sexual assaults and homicides recorded in Australia last year were domestic violence-related, according to new figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).

Key points: 7,464 people were sexually assaulted within a domestic relationship

7,464 people were sexually assaulted within a domestic relationship The majority of family-violence related victims were female

The majority of family-violence related victims were female Indigenous Australians are far more likely to be the victims of some crime

The 2015 crime statistics also show that there were 21,380 victims of sexual assault across the country, a rise of 3 per cent on the previous year, and a six year high.

Conversely, the number of homicides in Australia fell 2 per cent, from 421 to 413.

Females aged between 15 and 19 were seven times more likely than the general population to be sexually assaulted, and most of the sexual assaults took place in a home, and did not involve a weapon.

Only Tasmania and the Northern Territory saw a decrease in the number of sexual assault victims.

More than a third of sexual assault victims, or 7,464, were assaulted within a family or domestic relationship, while 158 people were killed by a family member or someone with whom they were in a domestic relationship.

Most victims of family violence assaults were women. ( Supplied: ABS )

For both sexual assault and homicide, the majority of family-violence related victims were female, 84 per cent and 65 per cent respectively.

The ABS compiled the figures by asking state and territory police forces for their crime statistics, and also surveying households.

It is important to note that comparative state figures might be affected by different collection methods, and that rises in family violence-related statistics could be partly explained by more willingness to report these offences.

Indigenous Australians were three times more likely to be a victim of assault in NSW. ( Supplied: ABS )

The figures for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander victims of crime were also separated by the ABS, and show Indigenous Australians are far more likely to be the victims of some crime than other Australians.

For example, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people were three times more likely to be a victim of assault in New South Wales than others, and three times more likely to the victim of sexual assault in Queensland.

In the Northern Territory, Indigenous people were five times more likely to be assaulted than their fellow Territorians.

More than 90 per cent of Indigenous sexual assault victims in the Northern Territory were female, and the offender was known to 69 per cent of victims, compared to 54 per cent of non-Indigenous victims in the Territory.

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The offender was a family member for 31 per cent of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander victims and 13 per cent of non-Indigenous victims.

Nationally, the number of victims of robbery, kidnapping, homicide and blackmail/extortion fell, while the figures rose for sexual assault and various kinds of theft.

The number of robbery victims fell by a quarter in both New South Wales and South Australia, and the overall number of robbery victims has fallen nationally by 39 per cent since 2010.

Conversely, figures for all three categories of property crime — unlawful entry with intent, theft of a motor vehicle and 'other' theft — increased, with Victoria, Western Australia, Tasmania and the Australian Capital Territory registering increases in all three categories.

New South Wales was the only state that saw a drop in victims of property crime.