Break-ins have increased for the first time in over a decade, with 2.0 per cent of households (194,100) experiencing a break-in over the last 12 months, according to figures released today by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).
Will Milne, ABS head of crime and justice statistics, said: “This was up from the lowest recorded rate of 1.7 per cent (171,600) in 2020-21, which coincided with sustained periods of lockdowns and COVID-19 restrictions across Australia.
“Property was stolen in around two-thirds of break-ins (65 per cent), with personal items like handbags, jewellery or clothing most often taken.”
Despite the recent increase in break-ins, the data found that the victimisation rate of 2.0 per cent remains lower than both pre-pandemic levels (2.4 per cent in 2018-19) and from when data was first collected in 2008-09 (3.3 per cent).
The report also found that the prevalence of all other household and personal crimes collected in the survey remained stable between 2020-21 and 2021-22.
The Crime Victimisation Survey provides information about experiences of a selected range of personal and household crimes, including the sociodemographic characteristics of people experiencing the offences, whether the most recent incident was reported to police and other characteristics of the most recent incident.
