The downturn indicates police actions around domestic violence are working, acting superintendent district command Mid North Coast Guy Flaherty said.

The figures were released as part of the latest Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research report.

Act Supt Flaherty said police are confident they can continue to reduce crime rates.

"We are particularly pleased to see a reduction in the figures relating to domestic violence related assaults," he said. 

"We believe this is a reflection that police are responding to domestic violence call outs and also applying for apprehended violence orders in the first instance as a mechanism to protect victims from being assaulted."

Act Supt Flaherty said police were taking the correct course of action in applying for AVOs as the first step in deterring an offender from committing any further crimes on their victims.

"Police are continually using compliance checks and targeting persons subject to an AVO to ensure their continued compliance," he added.

Act Supt Flaherty also praised good police work and concise information from the public as two key elements in the good figures released in the latest crime figures.

The report covers 17 major crime categories.

The five year trend, ending June 2018, shows that domestic violence related assault and non-domestic violence related assault are down 7.8 per cent and 6 per cent respectively.

Stealing from homes is also down 2.6 per cent while other thefts are also down 9 per cent. Breaching apprehended violence orders was also down 5.4 per cent.

However, breaching bail conditions had increased during the five years by 3.7 per cent.

Fraud realised a 6.3 per cent increase while the possession and or use of amphetamines climbed 21.2 per cent during the five year period.

All remaining areas of crime category were either stable or not significant enough to register in the data.

"Crime figures obviously reflect the ongoing good work of the police," Act Supt Flaherty said.

"Alongside that, we are targeting those areas that have been previously an issue for us.

He said the increased figures for possession and or use of amphetamines was a direct result of the targeted use of police drug dogs in the Port Macquarie area, in particular at music festivals and licensed premises.

Police are conscious of the need to adapt to current crime trends and in particular domestic violence as well as personal and commercial property crime including break and enters, he added.

"A lot of these results have been achieved through good police work, but also the concise information reported from the public either directly to police or through Crimestoppers," he said.

Across NSW, the figures highlight higher rates of arrest for cocaine offences and increased reporting of indecent and sexual assault offences.

NSW Police Commissioner Mick Fuller said this reflects NSW Police’s focus on targeting and disrupting drug-related crime across the state.