New reports reveal an estimated 5,000 households had stolen motor vehicles in Australia in the last 12 months.
According to the new report by ABS, about 220,000 households had items stolen from a motor vehicle in the same period, with 73 per cent of these incidents occurring while the vehicles were parked at home.
Stay up-to-date on the latest news with The National Briefing – keeping you in the loop with news as it hits:
William Milne, the head of crime and justice statistics at ABS, said that 59 per cent indicated that the incident took place at their own or another person’s residence.
Moreover, the report highlights the proactive approach of homeowners, with 86 per cent of households reporting their stolen vehicles to the police, marking the highest police reporting rate across all crime types surveyed.
However, only about half of the affected households reported these thefts to law enforcement.
The ABS survey also shows the common items targeted during thefts from motor vehicles, with money, purses or wallets (43 per cent), and personal belongings such as jewellery, clothing, and keys (36 per cent) topping the list.
Interestingly, the report noted similar trends in items stolen during household break-ins.
“Around 185,000 households were broken into last year, of which 69 per cent had something stolen during the incident,” Mr Milne said.
Despite the concerning statistics, the report highlighted that the prevalence and police reporting rates for all household crimes have remained relatively stable since the previous survey conducted in 2021-22.
Subscribe to The Briefing, Australia’s fastest-growing news podcast on LiSTNR today. The Briefing serves up the latest news and deep dives on topics affecting you, all in under 20 minutes.