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REGION MEDIA
By Claire Fenwick
Monday 7 September 2026
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The ACT is the only jurisdiction in the country to have not recorded a drop in the number of victims of robbery and theft (excluding motor vehicle theft), according to new data.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics crime and justice statistics head, Samantha Hall, said the number of people and places impacted by theft and robbery in 2025 fell for the first time since the declines that coincided with COVID-19 restrictions.

“Nationally, in 2025, the number of robbery victims dropped by 8 per cent from the previous year to 10,591 victims, while theft victims fell by 2 per cent to 581,209 victims,” she said.

Queensland recorded the largest decrease in robbery (down 13 per cent), followed by NSW (down 11 per cent).

Western Australia recorded the largest fall in theft (down 13 per cent), followed by South Australia (down 11 per cent).

But the ACT data revealed a different story.

The number of ‘other theft’ (which includes offences such as theft from a person and theft from retail premises, but excludes motor vehicle theft) victims decreased across most states and territories, except in Victoria and the ACT.

Victoria did experience a drop in the number of robberies, but the Territory did not.

There were 202 victims of robbery in the Australian Capital Territory in 2025, an increase of 20 victims (11 per cent) from the previous year.

The majority (61 per cent) of victims of robbery were male, most occurred at a retail location, and more than two-thirds (70 per cent) didn’t involve the use of a weapon.

There were 6852 victims of other theft in 2025, an increase of 10 per cent (625 victims) from the previous year. Two-fifths of other thefts occurred at retail locations (40 per cent, or 2722 victims).

An ACT Policing spokesperson said the latest ABS report on victims of crime still showed Canberra remained one of Australia’s safest cities.

“ACT Policing is unable to speculate regarding the reporting of crime incidents. However, we continue to record all matters advised to us, and we have expanded online reporting options, giving Canberrans multiple ways to inform us about an incident,” they said.

“This expansion will continue to include more crime types.”

They said Canberra’s police officers were committed to ensuring residents continued to feel safe, through regular operations and targeted campaigns such as the recent CBD Safe operation.

“ACT Policing continues to work closely with retailers and shopping centre operators as retail crime remains a focus of both day-to-day policing and targeted operations,” the spokesperson said.

“ACT Policing regularly considers crime statistics as well as information from other jurisdictions to address emerging trends and issues in the ACT.”

Given that the ACT is such a small jurisdiction, relatively small numerical changes can translate into large-appearing percentage changes in the data.

Shadow Police Minister Deborah Morris said any drop in victim numbers was welcome, but she felt it didn’t erase what she called a “worrying long-term trend”.

“The surge in retail crime reflects what local businesses, retail workers and shoppers are dealing with on almost a daily basis,” she said.

“This reinforces the need for visible, well-resourced policing at our shopping hubs and targeted operations in crime hotspots.”

Ms Morris called on the ACT Government to increase funding not just for more police officers, but to get on with delivering the facilities police needed to keep Canberrans safe.

“ACT Policing’s own figures show that crimes against the person rose by 29 per cent over the decade to 2024–25, far outstripping population growth of 20 per cent,” she said.

“The grim reality is that crimes against the person continue to grow faster than our population in the long term.

“This is the direct cost of Labor’s long-term neglect of police and community safety, with Canberrans continuing to suffer from the smallest police force per person of any jurisdiction in the country.”

The latest Productivity Commission data showed that in 2024-25 there were 169 FTE operational staff per 100,000 people in the Territory – the lowest rate of all jurisdictions.

The national average was 211 FTE operational staff per 100,000 people.

In positive news, the number of burglary victims decreased by 3 per cent – the lowest number since the data began being collected 33 years ago.

Motor vehicle thefts were down 11 per cent (to 821 victims), and the assault victimisation rate decreased to 503 victims per 100,000 people (the lowest rate since 2020).

The number of victims sexually assaulted decreased by four people to 424 victims in 2025. Around a third (34 per cent or 144 people) were under the age of 18 at the time they were assaulted, and just above a third (35 per cent or 149 people) of the sexual assaults were family and domestic violence-related.

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Number of robbery and theft victims fall across the country ... except in the ACT | Region Canberra