Elizabeth St traders in Melbourne’s CBD refuse to work after dark amid concerns for their safety

Fearful Elizabeth St traders are refusing to work after dark due to concerns for their safety amid an alarming spike in the number of crimes reported in the busy precinct.

Traders are refusing to work after dark on the trouble-plagued Elizabeth St due to concerns for their safety amid an alarming spike in the number of crimes reported in the busy precinct.

The Sunday Herald Sun can reveal some retail and fast food workers are “too scared” to work after 6pm due to ongoing crime, theft and anti-social behaviour along the strip.

New Crime Statistics Agency data, exclusively obtained by the Sunday Herald Sun, shows the total number of offences – including assault, criminal damage and theft – recorded on Elizabeth St has increased by 50 per cent over the past five years.

More than 440 retail store thefts were reported between April 2023 and March this year amid the cost-of-living crisis, up from 201 in the previous 12-month period, while the number of “other thefts” spiked from 175 to 237.

Assaults had also trended upwards.

Top five offences recorded on Elizabeth St in Melbourne’s CBD. Picture: Flourish

A takeaway outlet manager, who did not want to be named, said he had faced a “staffing crisis” as he struggled to find people to work the evening shifts.

“Some of my staff refuse to work after 6pm because they are too scared,” he said.

“My workers have had things thrown at them, items pushed off the counter in their direction and have experienced disgusting verbal abuse.

“It’s very hard to find consistency with the evening shifts … it’s not a case of calling police because they are doing more than enough.

“There needs to be resources into helping the homeless people in the area move on because a lot of the issues have been caused by them.”

Traders are fearful of working on Elizabeth St. Picture: Jake Nowakowski

Further along Elizabeth St, fast food worker Chloe, 22, said she does not work night shifts due to fears for her safety.

“I asked my team leader to take me off the late shifts because I personally don’t feel safe having to deal with drunk people,” she said.

“I’ve seen a lot of things like people taking drugs … one time a woman just started randomly screaming and started threatening customers and throwing their food on the floor.”

The statistics also revealed criminal damage increased from 84 to 102 offences in the past year.

There has been an alarming spike in the number of crimes reported in the busy precinct. Picture: Jake Nowakowski

The Sunday Herald Sun has been told two Coles workers were left “shaken” after a drug-affected man smashed the supermarket’s front window early on Friday morning.

The store was closed at the time and the incident was reported to police.

The Coles team members were not injured.

A Victoria Police spokeswoman says Elizabeth St is one of the busiest, high foot traffic areas in the entire CBD – with millions of visitors per year.. Picture: Jake Nowakowski

A Victoria Police spokeswoman said Elizabeth St was one of the busiest, high foot traffic areas in the entire CBD – with millions of visitors per year.

“When you compare the number of offences to the number of visitors, the chances of falling victim to a crime is incredibly low,” the spokeswoman said.

“Serious offences are rare occurrences. In fact, assault and weapons offences have actually dropped in the last year.

“The most common crime to occur on Elizabeth St is retail theft. While that appears low-level, we know we know it strongly impacts businesses and employees’ sense of safety.

“Our dedicated retail theft team engages daily with CBD retailers and strongly encourages all thefts to be reported so we can investigate and hold people to account.”

A state government spokeswoman said anti-social behaviour was “unacceptable”.

An alarming spike in the number of crimes have been reported in the busy Elizabeth precinct. Picture: Jake Nowakowski

“That’s why we are ensuring Victoria Police have the resources they need to keep Victorians safe,” she said.

“We have invested $4.5bn in Victoria Police which includes funding for more than 3,600 new police members to be on the beat keeping Victorians safe.

“We’ve also announced that we will introduce tougher laws against assault of retail workers — because everyone deserves to be safe at work.”

In June, a major Sunday Herald Sun investigation revealed traumatised traders and city workers were “fearful” of going to work as drug-fuelled violence and anti-social behaviour played out on the streets.