Queensland police have welcomed a massive increase in domestic violence offences as a "good news story" saying it shows people are more confident in coming forward.
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On the back of a 38 per cent increase in domestic violence order breaches and a 28 per cent increase in police-initiated DV referrals, Police Commissioner Ian Stewart said he expected those figures to continue to rise.
Police Minister Bill Byrne was also bullish about the increase, which he stressed had been predicted throughout the year.
"Once upon a time people would close their windows rather than listen to an incident in their neighbourhood," he said, while releasing the crime statistics for the 2015/16 financial year.
"Now, people are reporting it."
Overall, crime rates jumped six per cent from the previous year but were down very slightly over 10 years.
The ice epidemic was highlighted as not just Queensland but the nation's greatest policing problem, with Mr Byrne promising to take the issue to the federal level.
"Every single metric that there is indicates that we have an exponential growth in problems with amphetamine," he said, although Mr Stewart wasn't able to individually break ice-related offences out of the statistics.
The minister proposed a doubling of maximum penalties for the one in every five drivers caught driving with drugs in their system but backed away from mandatory minimum sentences.
Drug offences were up nine per cent overall but Mr Stewart said the state had lost its undesired mantle as national leader in meth lab closures.
While increases in DV reporting rates were a positive, he said a sharp downturn in drug lab closures was also good news but flagged a sinister reason behind it.
"We believe in the evidence available to us that it's because there's so much drugs being flooded into this country that it is not profitable enough to make your own, you simply buy it through the criminal networks," he said.
Domestic violence and economic hardship were highlighted as the other two major factors in crime across the state.
Police revealed they were called to deal with 238 DV matters every day last financial year, helping a total of 18,611 victims across the period.
Mr Stewart said he didn't expect those figures to peak for a few years yet and said while no crime could be considered positive, an increased tendency to report this kind of problem was a good thing.
"It's hard to try and convince the public that the massive increase in domestic violence figures and the breaches of domestic violence is a good news story," he said
"But I actually think it is, and for the very reason that the minister spoke about before.
"I think that we have finally seen a turning point in individuals who are prepared and have confidence in their police department and the government services that now exist to help people who are victims of domestic violence in particular, I think they're prepared to report more."
He hailed the first fatality-free Easter in 20 years but raised serious concerns about a continued high rate of drink-driving.
Fraud was down seven per cent, attributed to preventative measures and education, but property crime overall was up three per cent on the back of jumps in handling stolen goods, theft and unlawful use of a motor vehicle.
There were two less murders than the previous period, a five per cent drop, but overall offences against the person (including robbery and sexual offences) rose nine per cent.
