Over the past year, 43 per cent of all thefts in Australia occurred at a retail location. These figures exclude motor vehicle theft.
Furthermore, ABS data shows that retail theft is higher than ‘street’ or ‘footpath theft’, with the latter making up 30 per cent of incidents.
Incidents of theft and robbery documented by police in 2025 declined for the first time since 2020 and 2021; however, those figures came with a caveat. Head of crime and justice statistics Samantha Hall explained that the decline in those years can be attributed to an obvious outlier – the impact of the global COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting prohibition of public gatherings.
“Nationally, in 2025 the number of robbery victims dropped by 8 per cent from the previous year to 10,591 victims, while theft victims fell by 2 per cent to 581,209 victims,” Hall said.
“The rise in national motor vehicle thefts was driven by an 11 per cent increase in Victoria and a 3 per cent increase in New South Wales, while other jurisdictions saw a fall in motor vehicle theft.”
Robbery and theft declined in most states and territories, and Queensland recorded the largest decrease in robbery, down 13 per cent. New South Wales followed, declining by 11 per cent.
Meanwhile, Western Australia recorded the largest decrease in theft (13 per cent), followed by South Australia (11 per cent).
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