Page 4375 - Week 12 - Thursday, 24 October 2019
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Heritage, Minister for Planning and Land Management and Minister for Police and Emergency Services) (3.41): Pursuant to standing order 211, I move:
That the Assembly take note of the following paper:
Property Crime Prevention Strategy 2016-2020—Progress report 2019.
MR RATTENBURY (Kurrajong—Minister for Climate Change and Sustainability, Minister for Corrections and Justice Health, Minister for Justice, Consumer Affairs and Road Safety and Minister for Mental Health) (3.41): The property crime prevention strategy 2016-20 includes a commitment for me to table progress reports in the ACT Legislative Assembly. This report 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 last three years since the strategy was introduced.
In 2018-19 there were 19,637 recorded property offences, which is 2,033 less than three years ago in 2015-16. Within the property offence category, the strategy has five targets aimed at keeping crime rates low in the following areas: unlawful entry with intent, motor vehicle theft, other theft, bicycle theft and property damage. The good news is that we are exceeding two of the five targets. We continue to be well below the national average for unlawful entry with intent, sitting at 521 victims per 100,000 people in 2018, compared to 672 nationally. The rate of other thefts continues to decrease, with 153 offences per 100,000 people, compared to 221 in 2015-16.
However, while the ACT benefits from relatively low property crime and we are tracking well overall, there is no room for complacency because property crime can still affect anyone at any time. Remaining vigilant is essential to keeping property crime rates down and we still have work to do in this space. We do face some challenges related to the remaining three targets around property damage, bicycle theft and motor vehicle theft. The property damage rate did increase by five incidents in 2018-19, after decreasing in the previous financial year. While this is a small increase, the government will work with ACT Policing to continue to identify ways to address property damage across the territory.
The bicycle theft rate per 100,000 people also increased by five. We know that sometimes a bicycle is the main mode of transport a person has and/or the key to staying active. So having a bike stolen can be devasting. Over the next 12 months, we will ramp up efforts to remind people to remain vigilant through continuing to promote the “lock it or lose it” message.
The main challenge for the ACT in relation to property crime continues to be motor vehicle theft. While it is encouraging that motor vehicle theft decreased in the ACT in 2018-19, we have not yet achieved our target and remain above the national rate. This is a key issue, because often stolen vehicles are used in other crimes, such as failing to stop for police, ram raids and burglaries. Preventing motor vehicle theft could help curb other offences and will be a major focus going forward.
What we do know about motor vehicle theft is that while older cars without engine immobilisers are still easy to steal, thieves are resorting to breaking into houses to
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