The new structure of the Queensland Police Service (QPS) is to blame for the rise in crime rates over the past year, criminologist and former detective Terry Goldsworthy says.

Key points: QPS performed negatively on most key performance criteria after the restructure, Dr Goldsworthy said

QPS performed negatively on most key performance criteria after the restructure, Dr Goldsworthy said He is particularly concerned about a spike in the Gold Coast crime rate

He is particularly concerned about a spike in the Gold Coast crime rate Gold Coast weapons offences are up 13 per cent and assaults are up 15 per cent

Queensland crime statistics show overall rates of crime rose by 2 per cent during the 2018-2019 financial year — including an 18 per cent increase in weapons offences, to a rate of 13 in every 100,000 people.

There were also stark increases in unlawful use of a motor vehicle (14 per cent) and a 7 per cent rise in domestic violence breaches.

"We are out of step with other states," Dr Goldsworthy said.

"New South Wales has had crime decreases for some years now and even Victoria, which features in national media for its crime issues, reduced its crime rate last year, so something is not right in Queensland."

Dr Goldsworthy believed the rise could be partly attributed to an increase in public awareness and reporting, but said the main cause was the 2013 QPS restructure that condensed eight police regions into five.

"The restructure undertaken by Ian Stewart in 2013 has been a dismal failure," he said.

Former commissioner Ian Stewart restructured the QPS in 2013. ( ABC News: Patrick Williams )

"I did an analysis of the restructure going back 12 to 18 months ago and looked at all the key performance criteria that was to be evaluated against and most of them overwhelmingly had performed negatively."

Dr Goldsworthy is particularly concerned for the Gold Coast, his home city, where crime rates spiked in a number of categories, including weapons offences (up 13 per cent), domestic violence breaches (10 per cent) and drug offences (8 per cent).

Assaults in the city rose by 15 per cent, with 843 reported in the entertainment precincts of Broadbeach and Surfers Paradise, and 769 in Coomera.

In a positive sign for Gold Coast policing, rates of sexual assault decreased by 25 per cent compared to no change in Queensland overall.

"In a positive way, we are out of kilter with the rest of the state there," Dr Goldsworthy said.

"I would be interested to hear from the police why they have been so successful in reducing those sexual assaults because that may be something that we could roll out across the states."