EARLIER in September this year, local police called in the Police Air Wing’s Beechcraft King Air 350ER, callsign ‘POLAIR35’, to track an erratic driver who hit speeds of over 200km/h down the Bass Highway between Leongatha and Inverloch.

That same driver had twice overtaken an unmarked police car between Darlimurla and Boorool, on the Strzelecki Highway, and dangerously passed other vehicles while being involved in several near misses with oncoming traffic.

All the time the Mazda 3 sedan was being shadowed by the police airwing, until the alleged offender was arrested at a Wonthaggi address trying to escape on a motorbike.

He was found in possession of drugs, house-breaking equipment and stolen goods, among 20 charges committed while on bail.

It was a standout incident but not an isolated one during a fearful month of crime across the region and a high-profile year of offences locally.

So, no surprise then, when the Crime Statistics Agency (CSA) released its Victorian crime statistics figures, last Thursday, for the year ending June 30, 2025, that they detailed a significant 13.8% increase in the rate of recorded offences across the state, up from 7910.5 offences per 100,000 population to 8998.9.

Locally, the increase in the crime rate wasn’t quite so marked, up 2.7% in South Gippsland (7854.5) and 8.1% in Bass Coast (8247.9), both still below the state average crime rate of 8898.9 offences per 100,000 people.

But the ‘rate of crime’ figure hides both the actual increase in recorded criminal incidents locally and an even more disturbing situation right on our doorstep.

Locally, the total number of criminal incidents recorded was up 3.5% in South Gippsland, from 2373 to 2456 offences, the standout being Foster up from 137 offences to 312 in the year but with recorded crime numbers steady in Korumburra and Leongatha.

Recorded offences were up 10% in Bass Coast from 3323 to 3656, with Wonthaggi steady but with Cowes and Inverloch finishing the year with notable increases in recorded offences, the outlier being Inverloch up from 218 to 438 recorded offences which could also indicate a bigger enforcement effort.

But in Casey (including Berwick, Clyde, Cranbourne, Hallam, Narre Warren and Tooradin), the number of criminal incidents recorded was up by 20.5% (from 24,782 to 29,858), in Cardinia (including Beaconsfield, Garfield, Koo Wee Rup, Lang Lang, Nar Nar Goon Pakenham) up by 27.6% (7830 to 9991), in Latrobe City up by 11.8% and Baw Baw up by 13%.

On the measure of ‘alleged offender incidents’, that is allegations of crime reported to police, the numbers were up a whopping 22.2% in Bass Coast and 18.3% South Gippsland.

If you felt more unsafe in your own home in the past year than you did the previous year, it’s certainly borne out by the statistics and anecdotally.

Of course, we’ve had a number of high-profile crimes locally in the past year but just as worrying has been reports of a large number of stolen cars, many involving aggravated burglaries, that is home break-ins while the victims were present, and the rising incidence of youth crime.

Here’s a snapshot of some of the more serious incidents:

• In September 2024, four teens, involved in a series of aggravated burglaries and thefts of cars and property in the local area, were arrested at a roadblock on Wonthaggi’s main intersection, after a wild ride in stolen cars through the region in which they rammed police cars and drove at dangerous speeds.
• On Sunday, January 12, 2025, a 42-year-old Wonthaggi father of two was shot in the back in a residential street, the alleged offenders being charged with trafficking drugs and possession of guns and other weapons,
• On March 2, 2025, a 68-year-old Wonthaggi woman, walking her neighbour’s dog, was killed by a visitor to the area allegedly so drunk he didn’t even know he’d hit the retired retail worker before he left the scene.
• In August this year, a 27-year-old Korumburra man was sentenced to nine-and-a-half years jail for manslaughter, and
• On September 8, Leongatha mother of two Erin Patterson was sentenced to life in prison for murdering three of her in-laws and attempting to murder a fourth.

In the past month alone Bass Coast Service Area Police have seized drugs and illegal firearms, including two handguns from a house in Wonthaggi. They’ve charged a 37-year-old Wonthaggi man with a series of thefts and deceptions in the Bass Coast area, sought community help finding a Wonthaggi tradie’s stolen ute, and an e-bike from the Leongatha Railway Station. And on Friday, September 19 they charged a 27-year-old Frankston man with possession of methamphetamine and stolen goods after catching him speeding down Commercial Street in Korumburra, unlicensed, in an unregistered car with fake plates.

He was bailed to appear in the Korumburra Magistrates Court next February.

Gippsland South MP Danny O’Brien wasted no time criticising the state government for “allowing crime to surge across Gippsland, with shocking new figures showing increases in every local government area across the region”.

Drilling down into the region’s stats, he said the latest data from the Crime Statistics Agency revealed a dramatic spike in crime in many regional towns including Foster, where recorded offences soared by 127 per cent in just 12 months.

Mr O’Brien said the figures highlight how communities of all sizes "are being failed by Labor’s soft-on-crime approach”.

“When a small town like Foster sees crime more than double in just 12 months, and Sale records over 3000 incidents locals are right to be deeply concerned,” Mr O’Brien said.

“These figures show crime is rising across the entire region and the Allan Labor Government has failed to act.

“Our police are doing everything they can, but with over 1100 police vacancies statewide, 900 more off on leave and WorkCover, weakened bail laws, and country stations left closed or understaffed, Labor has left them to fight a losing battle.”

He said every local government area across Gippsland had seen crime rise over the past year. ‘Total Offences Recorded’ increased by 20.6 per cent in Baw Baw, 11.8 per cent in Latrobe City, 10 per cent in Bass Coast, 3.5 per cent in South Gippsland, 15.4 per cent in Wellington, and 7 per cent in East Gippsland, highlighting a region-wide surge in criminal activity, he said.

Meanwhile, ‘Alleged Offender Incidents’ were up as follows:

• Bass Coast 22.2%
• Baw Baw 10.8%
• Cardinia 37.1%
• Casey 20.9%
• East Gippsland 17.7%
• Latrobe City 18%
• South Gippsland 18.3%
• Wellington 20%

Statistics on the number family incidents locally reveal a bumpy trend, up 5% in South Gippsland and 8% in Bass Coast but down 1.1% in Baw Baw and 0.8% in Latrobe City. The standouts were East Gippsland where the number of family incidents was up 24.2% and Cardinia 22.4% respectively.

Family incidents still made up a significant proportion of the enforcement effort with breaches of family violence orders accounting for 707 of the recorded offences in Bass Coast and 485 of the 2456 offences I South Gippsland.

Statewide offences up 15.7%

The Crime Statistics Agency (CSA) released the Victorian recorded crime statistics for the year ending June 30, 2025, last Thursday, which included the first release of bail statistics.

They detailed increased initial bail decisions by Victoria Police up from 71,173 in 2024 to 89,783 in 2025. Bail by magistrates is down from 21,155 in 2023 to 17,961 in 2024 and 17,693 I 2025. Bail granted in the County Court and Supreme Court has remained steady.

The rate of recorded offences increased, up 13.8% to 8,998.9 per 100,000 Victorians in the last 12 months, while the number of offences increased 15.7% to 638,640. Property and deception offences had the largest increase in the last 12 months, up 21.2% or 66,144 to 378,050 offences. The main driver of the increase was theft offences, up 54,175 to 246,654 offences due to steal from a motor vehicle offences, which were up 24,409 to 86,351 offences in the last 12 months.

In the 12 months to June 30, 2025, the number of criminal incidents increased, up 18.3% or 74,653 to 483,583 incidents. The rate also increased, up 16.3% to 6,814 per 100,000 Victorians. Criminal incidents have reached their highest recorded figures since the commencement of CSA reporting in 2004-05.

Alleged offender incidents increased 19.3% to 196,456 in the last 12 months, as did the rate up 17.2% to 3123.3 per 100,000. Theft incidents increased by 33.8% or 11,457 to 45,304 alleged offender incidents.

Retail thefts up 41.8%

Specifically, steal from a retail store incidents increased 41.8% or 6040 to 20,474 alleged offender incidents.

The victimisation rate increased by 16.1% to 3956.8 reports per 100,000 Victorians. The number of person-related victim reports was up 18.0% to 280,805 and organisation reports was up 25.1% to 117,219. The rise in person victim reports was primarily driven by theft (up 28.7% to 131,802).

Family incidents increased by 7.7% in the last 12 months, with 106,427 incidents recorded across Victoria. The rate also increased, up 5.9% or 1499.6 incidents per 100,000 Victorians.

Bail applications up

Following recent enabling amendments to the Crime Statistics Act 2014 that allow the Chief Statistician to obtain data from the criminal courts, the CSA has been developing bail statistics for Victoria.

The first published bail statistics relate to bail decisions made across relevant agencies: Victoria Police, bail justices and the criminal courts, along with remand information from Youth Justice and Corrections Victoria.

Bail applications to the Magistrates’ Court increased 18.4% in the last 12 months, driven by increased bail refusals and revocations. Unsentenced receptions to Youth Justice remain well below the 10-year peak in 2020 but increased 35.0% in the last 12 months.

Published bail statistics will be progressively expanded over coming releases.

CSA Chief Statistician Fiona Dowsley said: “This initial set of bail statistics collated from multiple agencies is a first step to helping us better understand the impacts of bail or remand decisions on an alleged offender’s pathway through the criminal justice system and further offending.”

For more iformation go to: https://www.crimestatistics.vic.gov.au/