Copper wiring thieves affecting developments, infrastructure in Victoria

New homes are being delayed and power outages are being felt across Victoria as brazen thieves steal copper wiring and cause millions in damage.

Copper wire at Zebra Wreckers ready for recycling. Photo: Chris Ison / The Morning Bulletin

A spike in copper wiring theft across Victoria is causing power outages and even delaying the handover of land, new homes or entire neighbourhoods.

Brazen criminals are targeting public infrastructure and new housing developments to steal copper wiring which is used to deliver high-voltage electricity.

The offending has had a particular impact on electricity supplier Powercor — which delivers electricity to more than 840,000 homes and businesses across the west — and its customers, as well as to train lines, traffic lights and road signage.

Damage to infrastructure

Powercor’s protective security group manager, Michael Hayes, said there had been a spike in copper wiring theft from the company’s network during the past three years.

It has caused more than $3 million in damage to the network, comprising 90,000-kilometres of wires.

The offending has been most prominent around the western part of the state, particularly around Melton, Brookfield, Truganina and Tarneit, but also further west at Bacchus Marsh and the wider Ballarat area.

Mr Hayes said thieves were ripping out underground copper cables for street lighting and other electricity infrastructure.

While it leaves the community without lighting or power until it can be repaired, he said copper theft also posed a “serious safety risk to the public and our crews”.

“We are consistently seeing examples of offenders leaving live electricity wires exposed and endangering the local residents,” he said.

“The last thing we want to see is a member of the public electrocuted.”

Offenders tampering with electricity pits at Melton for the suspected purpose of copper theft. Photo: Powercor

Copper theft has also been causing headaches for the Department of Transport — by putting lives at risk on roads and public transport, delaying trains and causing power blackouts.

Criminals engaged in this conduct have “destroyed” infrastructure while leaving live wires exposed.

While “destroying” infrastructure and leaving live wires exposed, it is also costly to repair — it has cost the department $470,000 in repairs so far this year.

The damage has included multiple thefts from overhead freeway lane management systems. The most recent incident occurred on May 4, with nine cable pits targeted.

Further, there have been approximately nine incidents of copper cable theft on the metropolitan rail network since January 2021.

These thefts have mostly occurred in Melbourne’s west, particularly on the Werribee line.

Trains are being disrupted by copper theft. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Andrew Henshaw

Repairs cost tens of thousands of dollars and require extensive resources, not only to replace the copper but also the expensive technical equipment damaged during the crime. 

Roads and Public Transport Minister, Ben Carroll, said copper theft was “highly disruptive”.

“It can disable critical road signage and public transport infrastructure resulting in major delays and line suspensions.

“Not only is the theft inconvenient for commuters, but it is incredibly dangerous, with copper cables carrying up to 1500 volts. Tampering with them can mean the difference between life and death.”

Housing estates hit

More recently offenders have turned their attention to stripping copper wiring from new housing estates.

Not only does this create “enormous safety risks”, but is also delaying the handover of land, new homes or entire neighbourhoods.

Underbank estate, located at Bacchus Marsh, is one development that has been a victim of copper wiring theft.

Estate manager, John Snow, told Leader that offenders had vandalised a pit and stolen a few metres of copper wiring that had been installed within it.

“I’d say it was professionals who knew what they were doing and that they were after the cable.

New developments are being delayed by copper theft. Picture Dean Martin

“I daresay they hit up a lot of other estates at the same time and were just trying to get as much as they could.”

Detailing how frustrating it was, the incident occurred right after compliance had been completed.

It occurred on land that had not been titled, and delayed this process for another four weeks — meaning he received many frantic phone calls from clients.

“It was really inconvenient for a lot of people. Some people’s finance might expire, or their evaluation, so they lose time and money,” Mr Snow said.

It also cost the developers time and money to organise and pay for repairs and to have the compliance undertaken again.

“It delayed us doing other work, like obtaining permits for parks and gardens.

“It affects the clients, the developer and slows down the development.”

Cashing in copper

It comes as Powercor has partnered with Crime Stoppers, police and other industry partners to tackle the issue.

CrimeStoppers Chief Executive Officer, Stella Smith, said it was important to build awareness to put a stop to the “huge issue”.

“Theft of copper cable poses serious dangers to the public and causes enormous financial burdens on the building industry,” Ms Smith said.

It is believed the rise in the price of copper may have a direct correlation to the increase in thefts.

The cost of copper reached a historic high in March this year, with the market share price now $14 per kilogram.

When criminals steal hundreds of metres of copper they cash it in for between $5 and $8 per kilogram at scrap metal yards.

The offending is generally perpetrated by repeat offenders who are familiar with how to access the infrastructure, electrical pits along roadways, new residential and commercial construction sites and manufacturing sites and want to make some quick cash.

Generally the copper is then sold on for scrap metal, though this is prohibited.

The government amended the Secondhand Dealer and Pawnbrokers Act in 2018 to give police authority to enter a business or storage premises to inspect goods without a warrant if there is a belief they are dealing scrap metal.

The government says these changes have allowed for authorities to more effectively target criminals involved in stealing or disposing of stolen copper through the scrap metal industry.

‘Catch crooks unawares’

Detective Senior Sergeant Tim Argall, of the Ballarat Crime Investigation Unit, said police continuously worked alongside public transport and infrastructure partners to deter, detect, investigate and prosecute copper thieves across the Ballarat and Moorabool areas.

“We routinely share intelligence and investigate those responsible for stealing copper from areas such as train lines, transport hubs, roadways, construction sites, manufacturing locations and wind farms,” he said.

He said police regularly patrolled known areas of interest to copper thieves “to catch crooks unawares”.

A person caught stealing copper can be charged with theft. Depending on the value of the copper, they could face between two and 10 years’ imprisonment.

He said the impact of copper wiring theft was “extremely significant”.

“Trains get delayed, which in turn means people’s commutes are impacted. It also impacts our roadways, energy infrastructure, and new residential and commercial construction sites, which can mean huge losses for both businesses and people,” Detective Senior Sergeant Argall said.

Yet he stressed that it was also “extremely dangerous”.

“It not only leaves live wires exposed out in the community, but thieves themselves have suffered horrific injuries or death as a result of being electrocuted while trying to steal copper.”

While he said police continued to “crack down on copper wire thieves”, the community also had a role to play.

“We strongly encourage anyone at risk of copper wire theft, including infrastructure authorities, to be vigilant with their security – consider installing CCTV and always keep gates securely locked to deter thieves,” Detective Senior Sergeant Argall said.

Powercor, for example, is investing in protective security systems that use smart technologies to “disrupt offending and enhance the deterrence, detection and response to incidents of copper theft”, Mr Hayes said.

This includes rolling out high-end video surveillance systems, installing GPS tracking and other devices attached to equipment and monitoring devices that alert teams about usual activity on Powercor assets.

Metro Train’s Network Security and Surveillance (NSS) team identifies patterns of copper theft across its network, including by keeping a close eye on the network’s 12,000 CCTV cameras, and then boosts security at known hotspots.

Detective Senior Sergeant Argall asked anybody who noticed anything suspicious, such as exposed wires, a misplaced pit lid of a work site that looked unprofessional, or was operating at odd hours, to file a police report.

Suspicious activity could also be a broken down car parked next to a pit, or somebody selling second-hand copper on Facebook or Gumtree and asking for cash.

Suspicious activity or information about a past theft, selling or buying copper wire can also be reported through Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.

These reports can be made anonymously, including online at crimestoppersvic.com.au

To report copper theft in action call Triple-0 and for exposed cabling, call Powercor on 13 24 12