Page 5429 - Week 14 - Thursday, 30 November 2017
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as assisting in preventing bicycle theft. The government is currently considering the comments received from the community before finalising the code.
Contributing to our efforts to ensure that those who are more vulnerable to property crime are supported to safeguard their property, the safer families grants program was initiated as a pilot program in February 2017. Grants for amounts of up to $2,000 assist women and children escaping domestic and family violence to establish new rental accommodation. This will help people to meet their short-term needs and establish their sense of safety, as well as having the potential to prevent property crime from occurring.
Through ACT Policing’s targeted focus on recidivist and property crime offenders, 40 individuals were arrested and 268 charges were laid in the period of reporting. ACT Policing also recovered over $1.4 million worth of stolen vehicles and property, the majority of which has been returned to owners. These are just a few of the highlights. There has been significant progress against the objectives in the first 10 months. As a result of the cross-government effort to tackle property crime, we are tracking well against three of the five targets in the strategy.
The ACT is 33.7 per cent under the national victimisation rate for unlawful entry with intent; bicycle theft decreased by 28.7 per cent, or 193 offences in 2016-17; and other theft decreased by 12.7 per cent, or 1,388 offences. Property damage did increase 3 per cent, or 155 offences, in 2016-17. While this is only a small increase, it is disappointing. This is something that will continue to be monitored and one of the areas the interagency forum will focus on when it is established early in 2018 to work collaboratively to respond to property crime.
The main challenge the ACT is currently facing in relation to property crime is the increase in motor vehicle thefts. Nationally there has also been an increase; however, the ACT is sitting above the national theft rate. The target under this strategy is to be at or below the national rate for motor vehicle thefts. Again, we are only marginally above our target but this is still a disappointing result, sitting at 0.83 thefts per 1,000 registrations above the 2016-17 national rate. There is clearly work to be done in this area.
We are not alone in this. Motor vehicle theft remains a challenge across Australia, with all jurisdictions apart from Western Australia experiencing an increase in 2016-17. One of the activities we are doing to address this is joining with other jurisdictions to financially support the National Motor Vehicle Theft Reduction Council. The council builds stakeholder capacity and innovation with a range of technological, communications, public education and knowledge-sharing projects, with a focus on disrupting car parts and laundering markets and diverting young offenders. Locally in 2017-18 preventing motor vehicle theft is one of our main focus areas. The government has worked with ACT Policing to identify when and how cars are being stolen. This will form the basis for community education campaigns being developed in 2018.
I would like to be able to stand here today and say that we can put a stop to crime altogether and that people should not have to take steps to safeguard their property.
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