Elderly Victorians are increasingly likely to be the victim of a crime, analysis by the state’s Crime Statistics Agency (CSA) has revealed.

One-third of alleged assaults on people aged over 65 were perpetrated by a family member, mostly their children, in the decade to last December.

Another 9 per cent of abusers were the victim’s partner or former partner, while one-quarter were another known person like a neighbour.

Officers did not record the relationship in 12 per cent of assault cases.

Victoria Police recorded 4728 assaults on the elderly over the 10 years.

Elderly people were hurt in their own home 60 per cent of the time, or in an aged or health care facility in another 9 per cent of assaults.

There were 696 sexual offences in the decade, 58 per cent of which took place in a nursing home or healthcare facility.

Almost half were committed by an ‘other’ known person, 30 per cent of which were a co-resident.

Sexual offences were most likely to be perpetrated against those over the age of 85, accounting for one-third of cases.

Almost half of all crimes involving an older person was theft. Burglary, property damage and then assault were the next most common crimes recorded.

CSA chief statistician Fiona Dowsley said there was a clear difference in perpetrators depending on the crime.

“Our research found that in close to two-thirds of crimes against the person the victim knew the perpetrator, while this was the case for less than 5 per cent of property and deception offences,” Ms Dowsley said in a statement on Tuesday.

The crime rate against the elderly increased over the decade even when taking into account the ageing population. It reached its peak in 2016, with 1983 per 100,000 people aged over 65.

There were a total 109,187 elderly victims in the decade, 56 per cent of which were male.

Police Minister Lisa Neville said the Royal Commission into Family Violence shone light on “another silent level”, namely elder abuse where family members are “taking advantage”.

Victoria Police will be taught additional skills in spotting and responding to violence against older people, with 415 specialist officers to start joining family violence units by the end of 2018.

Elder abuse is loosely defined as a harmful act perpetrated against an older person by someone they trust. It can constitute family violence, but is also perpetrated by a friend or paid carer.

The abuse could be physical, sexual, financial, psychological, social or neglect.

The CSA paper looked at criminal offences recorded by Victoria Police, meaning not all forms of elder abuse could be considered.

-with AAP