Townsville named Australia’s ‘most robbed city’ during the festive season

Townsville residents are being urged to lock up this festive season after the city acquired the unwanted title of being Australia’s “most robbed city”.

Townsville was named Australia’s ‘most robbed city’ during the festive season. Picture: Supplied.

Local residents are being urged to lock up this festive season after crime statistics revealed that Townsville had acquired the unwanted title of being Australia’s “most robbed city”, on a per capita basis.

Seeking to highlight the upswing in burglaries towards the end of the year, insurer Budget Direct commissioned Research House Aira to analyse Australian crime reports for the nation’s 20 biggest cities between the months of November and December 2021.

Their analysis revealed that Townsville’s 37 burglaries per 10,000 people was Australia’s highest during the festive season.

Which cities have the most festive season burglaries per 10,000 people. Picture: Budget Direct.

Townsville finished ahead of our northern neighbour Cairns, with a rate of 30.1 home burglaries reported per 10,000 people and Hobart, Tasmania, with 23.1 festive home burglaries reported per 10,000 people.

For the total number of home break-ins during last year’s festive season, Townsville finished fourth on 724 behind the significantly more populated cities of Melbourne (2354), Sydney (1240) and Brisbane (1054), and ahead of Cairns (509).

The state of Queensland overtook Victoria in 2021 for the most Christmas time burglaries, with South Australia reporting the lowest number of home break-ins.

Which states have the most festive season burglaries. Picture: Budget Direct.

According to Queensland Police’s online crime map, since May 2021, the Townsville police district has recorded between 2330 and 2985 unlawful entry offences per month.

Acting Chief Superintendent Chris Lawson said Townsville police were committed to disrupting, deterring, and detecting property crime offences by rigorously investigating offences to identify and apprehend offenders and put them before the court.

“Through short operations ... we are able to hyper focus our resources from TCS (Tactical Crime Squad), RAP (Rapid Action Patrol), Property Crime Unit, Dog Squad and general duties officers to target property crime offences,” Superintendent Lawson said.

Acting Chief Superintendent Chris Lawson has outlined how police were tackling Townsville’s rampant property crime problem. Picture: Leighton Smith

He said they were targeting recidivist juvenile offending by establishing a Youth Justice Taskforce in early 2021, supported by changes to the Youth Justice and Other Legislation Act.

The reforms included new laws enabling a presumption against bail for serious repeat offenders and the ability for a court to seek assurances from parents or guardians before an offender is released.

Budget Direct offered several tips to prevent break-ins including locking all doors and windows (including on upper stories), never leaving a spare key outside, not leaving valuables near windows, installing a home security system, adding more lighting, and making your home look “cared for”.

Originally published as Townsville named Australia’s ‘most robbed city’ during the festive season