Victorians now rank lowest in Australia for neighbourhood safety, with new polling revealing a sharp decline in residents’ sense of security and growing concerns about crime across the state.
According to a new survey conducted by Snap Send Solve, nearly half of all Victorians say they feel less safe in their neighbourhoods than they did a year ago. The results place Victoria at the bottom nationally, marking the steepest decline in perceived safety of any state.
The poll, which surveyed more than 3,000 Australians, found that one in three people nationwide feel less secure in their local area. However, the figures were significantly worse in Victoria, where 45 per cent of respondents reported a drop in their sense of safety. Of the 1,359 Victorians surveyed, 613 said they felt less safe, while just 69 reported feeling safer than last year.
The findings come amid mounting public anxiety over crime, particularly in Melbourne, and follow recent revelations that 90 per cent of Victorian employers are concerned about the safety of their staff.
Snap Send Solve chief executive Danny Gorog said the results reflected deepening unease at the community level and pointed to the need for urgent action by both state and local governments.
“These results highlight the need for prompt attention to community safety at both a national and state level,” Mr Gorog said. “They also underline the critical role councils and service providers play in maintaining local amenity and safety.”
Victorians also rated their overall neighbourhood safety lower than residents in any other state, giving it an average score of 3.72 out of five, compared with a national average of 3.85.
The sense of insecurity has been fuelled by a series of high-profile crimes, including violent incidents in Melbourne’s CBD. The city council’s most recent Personal Wellbeing Index found that three in five Melbourne residents do not feel safe in the city at night.
The survey also revealed that more than two in five Victorians would consider moving to a safer neighbourhood if they had the option, a higher proportion than in any other state.
The state government has acknowledged growing community concerns and has pledged tougher action against violent repeat offenders, including proposed reforms aimed at imposing adult sentences for serious youth crime. Whether those measures will restore public confidence remains a key question as fears about safety continue to rise.
