Qld crime figures: Thefts, robberies up as cost of living and housing crisis bite

Crime numbers have risen across Queensland and returned to pre-pandemic levels, new figures show, as experts offer explanations for the likely causes. SEE THE OFFENCE NUMBERS IN YOUR AREA.

More Queenslanders are resorting to crime as they struggle through the cost of living and housing crisis, with offence numbers rising in theft, robbery, breaking and entering and assault across the state.

With the exception of assault and domestic violence, most crime increases were in nonviolent categories, reflecting a desperation among Queenslanders over the Christmas-new year period.

SCROLL DOWN FOR THE STATS ON BREAK-INS, ASSAULTS, PROPERTY DAMAGE, ROBBERIES AND THEFT

This was particularly noticeable in southern Brisbane, which recorded more than 13,000 theft-related offences between November and January, with theft numbers climbing by more than 1000 in just January alone compared to 2022.

Theft was also particularly high in the Gold Coast, Ipswich and Logan over summer, while climbing steadily in Townsville and Wide Bay-Burnett, rising by about 300 offences compared to the year prior.

Muhammed Mahmood, 31, owner of Istanbul Kebabs at Greenbank in Logan, said his shop had been broken into twice after only being open for five months. Picture: Richard Walker

Break-in offences were up in almost all districts during December and January but were particularly bad in southern Brisbane with more than 2000 unlawful entry offences recorded.

In Capricornia, unlawful entry doubled in January compared to 2022, while Logan saw February break-in offences soar from 560 to 954.

Despite this, former detective senior sergeant and criminology professor at Bond University Dr Terry Goldsworthy said Queensland’s crime rates were simply returning to their alarming pre-Covid levels.

“Crime has been decreasing nationally but the Queensland data, we had a 7 per cent increase in crime rates,” Dr Goldsworthy said.

“Looking at the 12 months prior to July last year, property crime is booming in Queensland, break and enters were up substantially, unlawful uses were the same, robbery had increased. There’s a challenge there for Queensland police.”

The Darling Downs saw a huge spike in both robbery and armed robbery in January, with robbery offences tripling and armed robbery offences rising by 16 compared to 2022.

Robberies increased in Moreton Bay, Logan, Mackay, Sunshine Coast and Wide Bay Burnett.

Armed robbery peaked heavily in southern Brisbane in January, but reflected similar offences numbers to the year prior, while Logan saw armed robbery numbers nearly triple from 10 in 2022 to 29 in 2023.

Australian Research Council (ARC) senior research fellow at the University of Queensland’s School of Social Science Dr Renee Zahnow, said there was a positive correlation between housing costs, high inflation and high crime called strain theory.

“Were seeing more break ins, and theft … we’ve seen retail crime skyrocket in Australia, and certainly here in Queensland, by 30 to 40 per cent,” Dr Zahnow said.

“It also can lead to more things like domestic violence, because people are already stretched in terms of their mental health.”

Property offences skyrocketed in the Gold Coast during December, with more than 3300 offences reported, however this was still far less than southern Brisbane’s whopping 4270 total.

Assault offences have also been climbing since last year, particularly in Logan, but also notably in the Moreton Bay region, Sunshine Coast and Townsville.

Capricornia experienced a 65 per cent increase in domestic violence offences in January, while Moreton Bay assaults rose by nearly 200.

The Sunshine Coast recorded an extra 61 assault offences in January compared to last year and the Gold Coast by 68 during February.

Muhammed Mahmood, 31, owner of Istanbul Kebabs at Greenbank in Logan, said his shop had been broken into twice after only being open five months.

“I had to spend about $4000 out of my own pocket to get a roller shed installed because the glass was completely smashed up,” Mr Mahmood said.

“But after the second break-in I was close to shutting down the business, because we are quite small and I had been spending money my own money on it.

“From my perspective, I think we just next to take extra steps for our own security.”

Mr Mahmood said he now stays up watching the cameras just in case it happens again.

Dr Zahnow said the high number of break-ins could were likely due to increased opportunity, with more people returning to regular work schedules after the pandemic.

“It creates capacity for those houses to be broken into and what looks like increasing burglary or breaking in but that’s actually because we had a massive decline when Covid struck because we were all at home all the time,” she said.

“I know someone whose house got broken into all they took was food.”

But Dr Goldsworthy maintained crime rates were not yet rising due to inflation pressures, saying a lack of job security would lead to more strain, which would then push more Queenslanders towards crime and “real problems would arise”.

“When it comes to inflation affecting crime, the buffer we have is full employment,” he said.

“Strain theory is where we have these things we want to achieve in life and when we can’t achieve them, we resort to deviant things, for example, if you think of the great Aussie dream of owning a house, that's extremely problematic now.”

Dr Zahnow expects excessive crime rates would drop when inflation starts to fall, but she hopes it would happen before housing costs drop to avoid placing further strain on those with limited funds.

Originally published as Qld crime figures: Thefts, robberies up as cost of living and housing crisis bite