Crime in Victoria soars, home invasions at record levels, new crime data shows

The Allan government has been shamed by shocking crime statistics as police call for new laws to be implemented “as fast as humanly possible”.

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Victoria Police and victims of the state’s out-of-control crime wave have pleaded with both sides of politics to put their egos aside and begin enforcing new bail and machete laws immediately.

The call comes as the state government was on Thursday slammed over shameful new figures which revealed youth and overall crime are both at all-time highs.

Victoria Police Deputy Commissioner Bob Hill said: “The overall crime rates in Victoria are totally unacceptable.”

Premier Jacinta Allan was forced to strengthen laws after growing community outrage, highlighted by the Herald Sun’s Suburbs Under Siege campaign.

Jacinta Allan’s state government has been slammed over the shameful crime figures. Picture: David Crosling

But despite Ms Allan vowing to introduce the legislation as a matter of urgency, some of the new laws – including tougher bail tests for serious offenders and machetes bans – will take more than three months to come into effect.

The controversially dubbed “Tough Bail Bill” was expected to pass parliament during a marathon sitting on Thursday night, with the opposition seeking to further beef-up the legislation while much of the progressive crossbench worked to water it down.

Victoria Police on Thursday pleaded with the government to pass and implement the legislation “as fast as ­humanly possible”.

The dire crime statistics for 2024 indicated a group of 20 of the “worst” youth offenders were responsible for 302 aggravated burglaries in which a car was stolen over the past year.

Youth and overall crime are both at all-time highs, new figures show.

Home invasions, car theft, retail crime and family violence incidents all reached record highs.

There were 7464 home break-ins last year.

Police laid the blame for that increase on a hardcore group of teens aged 14-17.

Crimes by children under 18 rose to their highest levels since 1993, when records were first kept. Those children, aged 10 to 17, committed at least 16 per cent more crimes than the previous year. Their total number of offences was 24,500.

Mr Hill said the release of the shocking data had to be a “line in the sand” moment.

He said repeat youth ­offenders, who are causing deadly chaos on the streets, were “a blight on our society”. “These figures speak for themselves … the community deserves more. We need to address these issues here and now.”

Home invasion victim Adele Andrews urged both major parties to take their “egos out of it” and agree to enforce the new laws as a matter of urgency to prevent further victims being harmed.

Ms Andrews asked how laws during Covid were given special exemptions to be passed urgently but the bail legislation would still take 12 weeks to be enforced.

“I’d like to know what’s driving the delay. Why does it take three months to implement it? They made those Covid laws very quick,” she said.

Home invasion victim Adele Andrews says the laws should be enforced as a matter of urgency. Picture: Michael Klein

“Let common sense prevail. Take your egos out of it. See it for what it is.”

Ms Andrews, whose family was subjected to a horrible home invasion in Black Rock this month, said magistrates should set an early precedent. “Let’s hope they’re enforced and magistrates do everything they need to make sure they are enforced,” she said. “Roll it out with a thud.”

Under Labor’s proposed rollout, the bail changes will become law over the next six months. Immediate changes include reintroducing committing an indictable offence while on bail, removing remand as a last resort, and ­ensuring community safety is the overarching principle in decisions.

However, tougher bail tests for serious offences including aggravated burglary, home invasions and knife crime will not come into play for at least three months.

The delay will give the government time to free up prison space ahead of an expected influx of offenders.

A second phase, to be debated later this year, will further strengthen bail laws, with the introduction of the “second strike” rule for repeat offenders and what Labor has hailed as the “toughest test ever”, which will force offenders to prove “compelling reasons” for bail.

However, the legislation is yet to be finalised and requires further community consultations.

The opposition, some crossbench MPs and victims of crime have called for the changes to be brought forward, wanting the full suite of reforms in play by June 30.

Opposition police spokesman David Southwick said the current plan would only lead to an even “bigger crime crisis” in six months.

The crossbench was expected to back an amendment from the Coalition on Thursday night to strip the word “tough” from the naming of the legislation.

Premier Jacinta Allan lashed the proposed change, accusing them of “playing political games”.

But deputy Liberal leader in the upper house Evan Mulholland said the Bill was “not tough enough” to live up to its name.

Greens MP Katherine Copsey said it should be called the “Panicked Bail Bill”, adding the “draconian laws” would increase incarceration rates for vulnerable communities.

Officers ‘relieved’ with new bail laws

Force command have urged the state government and opposition to agree on legislation “as fast as humanly possible” so new bail laws could be implemented swiftly.

A blunt Mr Hill said innocent Victorians would continue to be harmed, injured or killed in the meantime.

He said the state had reached a tipping point where the rights and safety of Victorians needed to be prioritised ahead of the repeat offenders.

He said police officers were overwhelmingly “relieved” with the recent bail laws announcement.

“There’s got to be a line in the sand,” Mr Hill added.

“Those people, in my view, do not deserve their freedom.

“We need to have community safety at the forefront of our thinking … Things need to change.”

The dire figures were released amid the state government rushing major bail law changes through parliament after mounting pressure from victims of crime during the Herald Sun’s Suburbs Under Siege campaign.

New laws will make it more difficult for repeat offenders to be bailed.

Machetes will also be banned in Victoria from September.

Home invasions have reached record levels, with 7464 break-ins across the state last year.

Police Minister Anthony Carbines on Thursday refused to concede that the state government should have acted sooner to halt the soaring crime rate.

Asked repeatedly whether he regretted not introducing tougher bail and knife laws last year, Mr Carbines claimed that there was “no way to act more quickly”.

“We’re always taking action,” he said.

“We couldn’t act any quicker to get these laws before the parliament, there was no way to act more quickly on this.”

Opposition Leader Brad Battin said Labor’s failure to act over the past decade had resulted in a 169 per cent increase in crime.

“Crime is simply out of control,” he said.

“We are at a stage now where we nearly have one aggravated burglary every hour here in the state.

“Car thefts are now at a rate of one every 18 minutes here in Victoria.

“We’re starting to see the increase at a rate that is well and truly beyond what anyone could believe would be possible.”

Opposition police spokesman David Southwick said Victorians should only expect crime to get worse, noting the laws would not come into play for some time.

“This government will allow machetes to still be in play for another six months,” he said.

“The prediction I’ll give you is we’ll be back here in six months with a bigger crime crisis.”

Overall crime soars

Theft has become the biggest driver in the state’s crime spike, with child criminals largely behind a 41 per cent increase in car thefts.

There were also 4850 more break-ins across homes and businesses last year than the 25,262 recorded in 2023.

The overall number of criminal offences committed in the past year spiked by 13 per cent – the highest level since 2016.

Theft from a motor vehicle was the most common type of theft.

Retail theft has also reached record levels largely due to mounting cost of living pressures.

There were 38,750 recorded store thefts last year and alcohol was the item most often swiped

from shops, along with groceries and clothing.

Police Minister Anthony Carbines refuses to concede that the state government should have acted sooner to halt the soaring crime rate. Picture: David Geraghty

Petrol theft also rose by about 27 per cent.

In a statement on Thursday, the Crime Statistics Agency said criminal offending had reached its highest levels since the agency began keeping records in 2004.

“The rate of theft offences being recorded per 100,000 Victorians has exceeded historical peaks, driven by record-high numbers of steal from motor vehicle, steal from retail store and motor vehicle theft offences recorded by Victoria Police in 2024,” chief statistician Fiona Dowsley said.

Originally published as Crime in Victoria soars, home invasions at record levels, new crime data shows