A new campaign will target more than 100 shopping centres, running from September to October 2025 during the Spring school holidays and January 2026 for the back-to-school period.
According to CSA chair Ian Stewart, the campaign unites shopping centres, staff, and customers in keeping communities safe.
“Shopping centres are part of the heartbeat of our communities – and everyone who walks through their doors has the power to help keep them safe. Everyone who walks through their doors has the power to help keep them safe,” he explained.
“Increasing our presence in shopping centres will enable us to bring greater awareness to the importance of community intelligence and to encourage people to contact Crime Stoppers.”
Retail theft in Australia is surging, outpacing other types of crime, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics. In 2024, there were 595,660 victims, the highest number in 21 years, with nearly half of all incidents (45 per cent) occurring in retail settings, and Victoria experienced a 29 per cent increase in store theft.
Australian Retail Association CEO Chris Rodwell described the situation as a “full-scale retail crime crisis” and emphasised the impact on employees, customers, and businesses.
“The fear and reality of retail crime is experienced daily. There are far too many innocent victims across the country, and the financial impact on businesses is unsustainable,” he said.
Rodwell recommended solutions including workplace protection orders, tougher state legislation, and the responsible adoption of technology such as body-worn cameras and facial recognition, citing successful trials overseas. Facial recognition has been explored in retail settings to strengthen security.
The campaign asks both the public and retail staff to report any suspicious activity to the Crime Stoppers hotline (1800 333 000).
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