Crime and Safety in Selected Papua New Guinea Provinces: A Pilot Study

Abstract

A crime and safety survey was undertaken in 2024 in four provinces in Papua New Guinea (PNG), mainly in urban locations but also in a number of rural districts. The total number of participants was 2,834 adults, almost equally men and women. This involved a collaboration between researchers and students in three universities — The Australian National University, the University of Papua New Guinea, and the Lutheran University of Papua New Guinea. The project’s objective was to trial an affordable model of undertaking surveys in PNG provinces that can provide timely and useful information to key stakeholders on crime and safety issues. The purpose of this report, therefore, is twofold. First, it presents the survey findings, and second, the analysis and discussion illustrate how useful such information can be and how crime prevention and justice reforms can be tailored and assessed by survey data, most notably when the surveys are conducted regularly. Show more