Overview

• Victoria recorded 483,583 criminal incidents in the year to June 30, 2025, up 18.3% to the highest level since reporting began, with the crime rate rising 13.8%.
• Recorded offences climbed 15.7% to 638,640 as theft led the increase, including theft from motor vehicles up about 40%, motor vehicle theft up 42.1%, and retail theft up nearly 42%.
• Police reported 1,128 child offenders were arrested a combined 7,118 times, with total arrests of children up 26.7% despite 149 fewer unique child offenders, indicating concentrated recidivism.
• The CSA’s first decade-long bail snapshot showed applications to the Magistrates’ Court rose 18.4% driven by more refusals and revocations, unsentenced Youth Justice receptions increased 35%, and 4,300 breach-of-bail charges were recorded.
• Victoria Police set a target to cut serious and violent crime by 5% annually, reported seizing nearly 11,000 edged weapons to August, and said Operation Trinity arrested 654 offenders 1,700 times, while a machete ban began on September 1 with impacts yet to appear in the data.