The Ministry of Justice has revamped its annual crime survey.

The New Zealand Crime and Victim Survey (NZCVS) launches this month with 8,000 interviews due to take place.

“This is a very powerful new tool,” says the Ministry of Justice’s Chief Executive Andrew Bridgman.

“It will help us better understand the impact of crime on the lives of New Zealanders and make the changes necessary for a safer New Zealand.

Mr Bridgman says it is a “great leap forward” from previous crime surveys as it gathers a much greater range and depth of information.  

The sample is 8,000 people over the age of 15, and it is expected that it will take seven months to complete all the face-to-face interviews. The 2018 survey will specifically focus on family violence.

“We want to know the impact crime has had on participant’s lives in the last 12 months and we want to know about both reported and non-reported offences,” Mr Bridgman says.

The NZCVS has been funded to run once a year for the next three years. The survey starts this month and, following the completion of all the interviews, the data will be analysed with the first results due to be published at the end of the year.  

It replaces the New Zealand Crime and Safety Survey (NZCASS) which occurred every three or four years.

NZCVS results will be used widely by the Ministry of Justice, Statistics NZ, Ministry of Social Development, Te Puni Kōkiri, the Police, Department of Corrections, Oranga Tamariki, and the Ministry for Women as well as other researchers.  

It is being conducted jointly by the Ministry of Justice and CBG Public Sector Surveying.