The suburbs where aggravated burglaries are on the rise

Aggravated burglaries are on the rise in parts of Victoria despite record low crime levels. See where your suburb ranks.

Aggravated burglaries rose in parts of the state last year as more people who remained at home due to restrictions failed to deter thieves from busting into houses.

Crime statistics have revealed the jump, most noticeable in the southeastern suburbs, occurred despite record low levels of overall crime.

The council areas of Casey, Greater Geelong and Wyndham had the most recorded offences of residential aggravated burglaries in 2021.

Aggravated burglaries occur when an offender enters a property while the resident is home, even if they are not noticed by the resident.

Casey reported 293 offences, knocking Geelong from top spot for the first time since 2018 with 230.

Wyndham only had 82 cases three years ago, but leapt into the top three with 190 cases in 2021.

The safest LGAs in the past few years have been Mansfield, Golden Plains, Yarriambiack, Buloke and Corangamite, with next to no home burglaries.

In regional Victoria, Ballarat had the worst rate of aggravated home burglaries at 142 per 100,00 people.

Queenscliffe and Mildura also had high rates at 132.5 and 118.4 respectively.

Victoria Police is hopeful rates of aggravated burglaries will continue to fall in the City of Casey, with the crime down 50 per cent from five years ago.

The rise in aggravated burglaries across the state, while other crime decreased, is believed to have been caused by people spending more time at home under pandemic restrictions.

Burglars may not have encountered as many residents at home during daylight hours in previous years, meaning fewer offences would have been classified as “aggravated”.

“The most recent Crime Statistics Agency data release shows that residential burglaries in Victoria were at their lowest levels in the past 10 years, with around 25,000 fewer homes broken into than five years earlier,” a Victoria Police spokesman said.

“While it’s satisfying to see a heavy reduction in the number of burglaries not only in Casey and across the state, the community can rest assured that police will continue to target burglars through proactive patrols in key crime hot spots and monitoring known persons of interest,” he said.

Police have strongly encouraged anyone who has been a victim of aggravated burglary, or who notices anything out of the ordinary in their neighbourhood, to contact them immediately.