Retail crime involving weapons surged by 66 per cent across Australia in 2024, with a sharp rise in violent and threatening incidents.
Figures from retail crime reporting platform Auror show a 40 per cent increase in incidents involving knives and blades compared to the previous year. Overall, violent or serious incidents rose by 30 per cent, while threatening events increased by 39 per cent.
Victoria recorded the highest increases, with violent retail crime up 38 per cent and threatening events rising by 52 per cent.
Nick McDonnell, Senior Director of Trust at Safety at Auror, said the data highlights a growing trend of organised and violent retail crime, placing frontline workers and customers at risk.
“What’s confronting is, about one in four retail crime events last year involved some form of violence, intimidation, threats, physical or verbal abuse.
“Police do an incredible job keeping us all safe and there is no substitute for the hands-on work they do in our community, but crime in retail is such a high-volume crime type that it’s impossible to address it all.
“However, focusing on repeat offenders causing the majority of the high-volume, high-harm offences is critical – and you can only do that if you have visibility to the total problem.”
Data shows that 10 per cent of offenders were responsible for over 60 per cent of total harm and loss last year.
The National Retail Association (NRA) and the Australian Retailers Association (ARA) are calling for urgent government action to address the rise in violent retail crime.
Lindsay Carroll, Interim CEO of the NRA, said policymakers need to prioritise the issue and provide better support for law enforcement and businesses.
“Governments need to give retailers and police the right tools, whether that be funding, policy changes or even just political leadership, to effectively address this growing trend of violence in retail, and so repeat offenders can be identified and brought to justice.
“Criminals have become bolder, and our system needs to keep up; this includes leaning into technology-based solutions that can deal with this challenge at scale.”
Fleur Brown, Chief Industry Affairs Officer at the ARA, echoed these concerns, calling for stronger penalties and continued investment in security measures.
“Retail crime has a profound and lasting impact on frontline retail staff and in some instances, customers. Everyone has a right to feel safe while at work or shopping.
“Unfortunately, we’re continuing to see an increase in retail crime and aggressive behaviour across the country, particularly in Victoria; and we remain focused on the need for the government to implement proven measures that improve the safety of retail workers.”
The data also revealed that knives and blades accounted for more than half of all weapon-related retail crimes, making them the most commonly used weapons across all states and territories.
In comparison, New Zealand recorded smaller increases, with a 10 per cent rise in weapon-related crimes, an 11 per cent increase in serious incidents, and a 14 per cent rise in threatening events last year.
To stay up to date on the latest industry headlines, sign up to the C&I e-newsletter.