Stolen cars and break in offences hit new low across the Gold Coast

There latest numbers are in on cars thefts and break-ins across the Gold Coast.

The rate of stolen cars and break ins across the Gold Coast have fallen to their lowest levels in years with the state government crediting its new Adult Crime, Adult Time laws for driving down offending.

However a leading criminologist says crime figures across the state remain at unacceptable highs.

Official Queensland Police Service crime data from December 2024 to the end of February shows unlawful use of motor vehicle and unlawful entry offences across the city are at their lowest level for the three month period in six years.

The results coincide with the introduction of the Making Queensland Safer laws which overhauled the sentencing of juveniles and brought about tougher penalties for children convicted of serious offences including murder, unlawful striking causing death and dangerous operation of a vehicle.

Analysis of crime data by the Bulletin shows:

• There were 614 stolen cars between December 2024 and February 2025, a decrease of 21% compared to the 779 vehicles over the same period last year and the lowest number of offences for the period in six years.
• Over the same period, break and enters were down more than 19 per cent with 982 offences recorded in the three months to February, compared to the 1226 recorded last year. It’s the lowest rate of break-ins over the period in six years.

Dan Purdie Minister for Police, credit the Making Queensland Safer Laws for driving down offending. Picture: Steve Pohlner

Police Minister Dan Purdie said the crime statistics were encouraging and hoped they would continue to fall following a further expansion of Adult Crime, Adult Time penalties.

“Undoing a decade of Labor failings will take time, and we acknowledge we may see some spikes along the way, but we are committed to having less victims overall in the next four years,” Minister Purdie said.

“This data shows we are on the right track to reducing crime in South Eastern Queensland, and we won’t be satisfied until we see this trend continue. For ten years, the Labor Government ignored the desperate cries of our police and of our residents in Logan and the Gold Coast, who were under siege by offenders willingly thumbing their noses at the law.”

Bond University Criminologist and ex-detective Dr Terry Goldsworthy. Picture: Charlton Hart

Dr Terry Goldsworthy, an ex-detective turned criminologist at Bond University, said the reduction in offending was a positive step but it was too early to say whether the Making Queensland Safer Laws were behind the decrease.

“This is very early data and it would be optimistic to suggest that laws implemented a few months ago have caused any significant impact on crime rates,” Dr Goldsworthy said.

“Rather this would be more likely driven by expanded policing operations that have been put in place in the last six to 12 months and stronger bail laws that were enacted to prevent recidivist offenders from being able to remain in the community and commit further offences.

“The crime rate in Queensland still remains at 20 year high, so there is still a long way to go before crime rates return to an acceptable level.”

Originally published as Stolen cars and break in offences hit new low across the Gold Coast