Anuk Sasmitha Pallegangoda — S4145395
The registered crimes in Victoria have a wavering pattern between
2016 and 2025, with a notable decline around 2022 followed by a rebound
to the peak in 2025.
The trend likely reflects a post-pandemic recovery in reporting and
policing activity, and changes in social/economic factors influencing
crime.
The recent upsurge indicates renewed pressure on law enforcement and
community safety programs.
The highest incidence rates of family-violence in the regional LGAs such as Benalla, Northern Grampians and Central Goldfields and lowest in metropolitan LGAs such as Boroondara and Glen Eira. This contrasts with an imbedded socio-economic and access-to-services disparities between rural and metropolitan Victoria. Its findings emphasize the importance of prevention and support program on a geographically oriented manner.
In the four regions of police in Victoria, the rates of offences differ considerably with Western and Eastern regions having a number of the high rate LGAs than their metropolitan counterparts. North West Metro comprises of Melbourne and Brimbank areas that have dense population and are registered as having crime activity, compared to Southern Metro that is relatively stable. Such distribution implies that policing policies and resource allocations towards regions need to reflect the individual crime profile in the area.
There are three major themes in the crime landscape of Victoria, 2016-2025. First, total recorded offences fell dramatically around 2022 and recovered to record levels in 2025 indicating a post-pandemic rebound in the activity as well as reporting. Second, geographically focused prevention programs are necessary, with incidences of family-violence still being significantly disproportionately higher in regional LGAs than in metropolitan ones. And lastly, local variations in the level of recorded offences in police areas emphasize that strategies of crime prevention and resource distribution should not be functioning on global scale. The statistics indicate that the overall number of offences is increasing once again, but the spatial and socio-economic inequalities of the distribution of crime in Victoria still define the priorities in policing and the choice of policy interventions.
State, V. (2017, December 31). Homepage | Crime Statistics Agency Victoria. Vic.gov.au. https://www.crimestatistics.vic.gov.au/