50% Of Aussies Confess To Commiting ‘Micro Crimes’

It would appear that Australians just can’t shake their convict past. 

In a recent YouGov survey 50 percent of Australians confessed that they have committed micro-crimes, such as being given the wrong amount of change and not admitting it or illegally downloading movies with out paying.According to the survey Illegally downloading content is very popular among young people with two-thirds (67%) of 18-24 years have done so at least once and nearly a quarter (24%) do so regularly.

The survey also found that young people are also more likely to commit a number of other micro-crimes:

• Lying about their age to get a cheaper deal; over half (53%) of 18-24 year olds have done this, well above the national average of 30%.

• Putting a product through a self-service till for less than it should actually cost; over three times as many 18-24 years olds (36%) have done this compared with over 55s, 10% of whom admit to have done this at least once.

• Telling someone their food order was take-away rather than eat-in because it costs less; 33% of those aged 18-34 have done this, compared to 23% of those aged 35+.

Paying cash-in-hand, another micro crime ,is common in rural areas (58% of rural residents admit to it) than metropolitan areas, where 44% have done this.