"If you're going to disregard conditions, which a lot of perps have been known to do, they [IVOs] will fall into that as well. "Ultimately our systems and processes work for those who respect them. And when you're starting to work with recidivist and highly dangerous perpetrators of violence, the normal rules that we impose don't always apply." With recividist and highly dangerous perpetrators of violence, the normal rules that we impose don't always apply. Rosie Batty There were almost 20,000 family violence IVO breaches last year, with the infringement now representing 5 per cent of all criminal incidents that police deal with. It is also the crime that's risen the most during the past decade in Victoria, however the increases are also driven by the fact that more orders are being issued by the courts – about 30,000 each year according to the data analysis.

Police Minister Lisa Neville with Deputy Commissioner Shane Patton. Credit:Jason South Loading Victoria Police Deputy Commissioner Shane Patton said police were also now faster to respond to IVO breaches, leading them to remand more infringers in custody than ever before. “We’re quicker to arrest them now and lock them up,” he said. Acting Superintendent Mark Zervaas said that Victoria Police took "a zero tolerance" approach to breaches of intervention orders and bail.

"We’ve had a significant increase in charging perpetrators in relation to both breaching and intervention orders," Acting Superintendent Zervaas said. For the first time, the state's Crime Statistics Agency investigated what other crimes people committed when they breached bail. Their analysis shows that there were 14,806 criminal offences reported alongside bail breaches during that 12-month period, and of those the most common by far was contravening a family violence IVO. When someone is released on bail after being charged with an offence they must adhere to a strict set of conditions, and can breach it by committing further crimes or by failing to show up at court. Overall crime rate drops but some incidents rise

The report on bail breaches was published on Thursday morning alongside the state’s quarterly crime statistics. Loading The state's overall crime rate dropped 3.8 per cent, the data showed. There were 59.4 criminal incidents per 1000 people in Victoria. Most offences across the board experienced a decline but sexual offences were up 6.7 per cent, while stalking, harassment and threatening behaviour rose 6.4 per cent, though this may be tied to improved reporting of these incidents. There were also 18,101 assaults not related to family violence in the 12 months to September 2018, a 5 per cent increase over the previous period.

Police Minister Lisa Neville said burglary and break-and-enter rates were at their lowest in a decade, and armed robbery rates were down more than 22 per cent. “Crime is coming down, but that doesn't mean our focus is any less,” she said. Deputy Commissioner Patton said his focus for 2019 would be reducing the rates of home invasions and violent carjackings. “You need to be safe in your home; we’re locking them up,” he said. There were 98 carjackings or aggravated carjackings in the 12 months to September 2018, as well as 78 attempted carjackings, the data shows.