Page185 - Week 01 - Thursday, 3 December 2020
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Property Crime Prevention Strategy 2016-2020—final progress report
MR GENTLEMAN (Brindabella—Manager of Government Business, Minister for Corrections, Minister for Industrial Relations and Workplace Safety, Minister for Planning and Land Management and Minister for Police and Emergency Services) (3.49): Pursuant to standing order 211, I move:
That the Assembly take note of the following paper:
Property Crime Prevention Strategy 2016-2020—Final Progress Report 2020.
MR RATTENBURY (Kurrajong—Attorney-General, Minister for Consumer Affairs, Minister for Gaming and Minister for Water, Energy and Emissions Reduction) (3.49): The Property Crime Prevention Strategy 2016-2020 includes a commitment to table progress reports in the Assembly. This is the final report for this strategy and provides an update on progress against the targets in the strategy and the government’s achievements against the actions.
I am pleased to inform the Assembly that, overall, the number of property offences in the ACT has been decreasing over the four years since the strategy was introduced. In 2019-20 there were 17,737 recorded property offences, which is 3,933 fewer than four years earlier, in 2015-16. Within the property offence category, the strategy aimed to keep crime rates low in five target areas: unlawful entry with intent, motor vehicle theft, bicycle theft, other theft, and property damage.
The good news is that four of the five targets under this strategy have been achieved. The ACT was below the national rate of 683 victims of unlawful entry with intent per 100,000 population, with an ACT rate of 613 in 2019. The year-on-year increase in the other theft rate has stopped. The ACT recorded 139 per 100,000 population in 2019-20, 82 fewer than in 2015-16. There were small increases in property damage in 2016-17 and 2018-19. However, in 2019-20 the rate of property damage was 94 per 100,000 population—31 fewer than in 2015-16. And the bicycle theft rate has remained steady at 17 thefts per 100,000 population.
The main challenge for the ACT in relation to property crime continues to be motor vehicle theft. The target to date has not been achieved, with the ACT remaining above the national rate. To assist in addressing this challenge, the “lock and hide to protect your ride” component of the Outsmart the Offender campaign was released in October 2019. This campaign will continue in 2021, and motor vehicle theft will remain a key focus for ACT Policing and the Directorate of Justice and Community Safety. The Outsmart the Offender campaign is a key initiative under the strategy, aimed at raising awareness of what an individual can do to reduce the likelihood of becoming a victim to property crime.
The campaign includes these key messages, targeting important areas of prevention: “Lock and hide to protect your ride”, targeting motor vehicle theft and theft from vehicles; “keep out a break-in”, targeting home burglary; “lock up and cover up”, targeting theft from apartments; “lock it or lose it”, targeting bicycle theft; “keep
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