House break ins soar by 47% in Alice Springs, sexual assaults up 30%

New crime statistics have revealed how many Alice Springs residents were the victim of a house break in the 12 months ending July.

ONE in 35 Alice Springs residents were the victim of a house break in in the 12 months ending July, new crime statistics have revealed.

House break-ins skyrocketed 47 per cent, with 767 unlawful entries recorded for the town, while a staggering 463 commercial break-ins were attended to – an increase of 42 per cent.

In the town of about 25,000, one in 12 people were the victim of property damage, which equates to 2,308 incidents – up by more than a quarter.

Of concern, sexual assaults rose 30 per cent, and domestic violence related offences grew by 27 per cent, meaning 1190 incidents were recorded for the period.

There was an increase in all criminal offences monitored by NT Police.

Member for Araluen Robyn Lambley said the NT government is “in complete denial” over how serious the issue of crime is in Alice Springs.

Independent MLA Robyn Lambley says the government is “in complete denial” over how serious the issue of crime is. Picture: Che Chorley

The independent MLA said improving the Territory’s alcohol policy was the “most critical part of the equation” for reducing crime.

“Particularly in a town like Alice Springs, your work is never finished – you must continue to tweak and modify and improve and review each and every alcohol strategy, pretty much all the time,” she said.

“You never stop, and when you think you’re finished you start again, because alcoholics find a way around getting access to alcohol.”

Ms Lambley said the “alarming rate” of domestic violence and assaults, where alcohol is often involved, demonstrated the NT’s alcohol policy was not working.

She said the government’s response to issues unrelated to Covid-19 had fallen by the wayside.

“We’re seeing the government drag the chain,” she said.

“Their response to Covid has been excellent, but anything outside of Covid has not been up to scratch.”

Ms Lambley said part of the problem was that police are unable to criticise the policies and laws in place because they are public servants. “Police are doing the best that they can,” she said.

“But they have to toe the line, they can’t criticise government, they can’t criticise policy or legislation – they just have to try and paint this bright picture.”

But Minister for Alcohol Policy Natasha Fyles said the NT government had introduced “significant measures” to reduce alcohol-related issues.

“There is no silver bullet solution, however we have a variety of reforms and measures in place to aid in the reduction of harms,” she said.

“Practical examples of how our reforms are working include the Northern Substance Abuse Intelligence Desk seizing and destroying 2100 litres of alcohol which otherwise would have spread to remote communities.”