TEENAGERS aged 15 to 19 are Australia's most dangerous people, new figures from the Australian Institute of Criminology showing violent crime is highest among this group.

Teens are responsible for a disturbing number of bashings, robberies, abductions and sexual attacks and 17-year-olds are the worst offenders.

The figures were released as part of the annual Australian Crime: Facts & Figures report.

The report showed the rate of assaults in the 15-19 age group was 886 per 100,000 people in 2011, compared to a rate of 85 per 100,000 for offenders aged 55-59.

Robberies and extortion in the younger age group were committed at a rate of 115 per 100,000 people.

Sexual attacks were most prevalent among 15-year-olds, with 64 offences per 100,000 people. This compared to 18 per 100,000 in the 60-64 age group.

Demographer David Chalke said easier access to alcohol, the prevalence of video games and changing family structures were to blame for high rates of crime among teens.

"If you go back 20 years, the availability of alcohol was much less. It was a lot harder for under 18s to get booze," Mr Chalke said.

"Now it's a whole lot easier for them to get juiced up and that may be a significant contributor."

On families, Mr Chalke said parents working longer hours and having fewer children had resulted in bored teens turning to crime.

"Video games have also created a culture where violence is the norm," he said.

Criminologist Emmeline Taylor, who will next year head up the a criminology degree at the Australian National University, said teens had been prone to violence for quite some time.

"Across Australia and universally, the trend shows there is a sharp incline in criminal behaviour in early adolescence," Dr Taylor said.

Justice Minister Jason Clare said that while the report showed there had been some progress in tackling crime, with a general decrease in crime levels, there was still "a lot more work to do".

"The Federal Government recognises the need to support young people who are at risk of falling through the cracks of society and putting them on the right path and this is why we have invested $40 million into a National Crime Prevention Fund which allows local communities to work together to recognise local problems and develop local solutions," Mr Clare said.

The report also shows that knife crime remains prevalent across the country. Almost half of all Australian murder victims in 2011 were killed by a knife and knives also represented 49 per cent of the weapons used in armed robberies.

The report also showed fraud committed on credit and charge cards continued the trend of previous years by increasing.

Indigenous Australians were also 18 times more likely to be jailed, at a rate of 2276 per 100,000 people, compared to 125 per 100,000 for others.