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An Overview of the Trend in the Charges of Theft in Victoria from 2012 to 2017

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An Overview of the Trend in the Charges of Theft in Victoria from 2012 to 2017

An Overview of the Trend in the Charges of Theft in Victoria from 2012 to 2017

This article is the second part of our three part series exploring theft charges.  See the other articles for an sentencing outcomes from theft in Victoria Australia and overview of theft charges in Victoria Australia.

 

This article looks at the trend of theft in Victoria from the Victorian Sentencing Advisory Council’s recent report on theft sentencing in Victoria.  This series includes a look at theft charges where theft was either a primary charge or theft was one charge amongst other charges.  The period looked at in the report was from 2012 to 2017.  During this period, the Magistrates’ Court sentenced 45,155 people for proven theft charges with approximately 114,170 theft charges made against those people.  On average, there were 2.5 theft charges made against each person.

 

Trends in Theft Sentencing in Victoria from 2012 to 2017

Overall, the number of proven theft cases in Victoria has been increasing.  There are other factors that influence this trend including population changes, greater police resources, a stronger focus by authorities in preventing and prosecuting certain crimes, technological factors such as more cameras being used in residential and commercial premises and better security systems and devices.

 

Trend of Theft Charges Resulting in Sentencing in Victoria from 2012 to 2017

Year

Number of theft charges

% of theft charges

2012-2013

20,093

17.60%

2013-2014

21,075

18.46%

2014-2015

22,145

19.39%

2015-2016

24,598

21.55%

2016-2017

26,259

23%

Reference: Theft: Sentencing Outcomes in the Magistrates' Court of Victoria 2017

 

Trends in Theft Charges Resulting in Sentencing including where other Charges were also made from 2012 to 2017

This table looks at the trend in theft charges overall, the trend in theft charges where theft was the principal offence and the trend in theft charges where theft was not the principal charge.

 

Year

Number of theft charges overall

Where theft was the principal charge

Where theft was not the principal charge

% of theft charges overall

% where theft is the principal charge

% theft charge not principal charge

2012-2013

20,093

4,115

8,421

17.60%

20.43%

18.65%

2013-2014

21,075

4,123

8,750

18.46%

20.47%

19.38%

2014-2015

22,145

4,030

8,875

19.39%

20.01%

19.65%

2015-2016

24,598

4,013

9,284

21.55%

19.92%

20.56%

2016-2017

26,259

3,861

9,825

23%

19.17%

21.76%

Reference: Theft: Sentencing Outcomes in the Magistrates' Court of Victoria 2017

 
My Legal Crunch Theft Charges Trend Bar Chart

 

The table shows that while the number of theft charges leading to sentencing have risen, the number of cases where theft was the principal charge has remained stable overall with a slight reduction from 2015 to 2017.  Conversely, the number of sentencing outcomes where theft was not the principal charge has been increasing.

 
According to the Sentencing Council of Victoria, 47% of matters involving a theft charge also involved charges for burglary or aggravated burglary.  As burglary and aggravated burglary are principally related to break-ins to homes, this suggests many theft cases are a result of theft from homes.  36.4% of cases were theft from a shop while 9.4% of charges were theft of a motor vehicle.
 

For more information about theft see our other articles in this series including sentencing outcomes from theft in Victoria Australia and overview of theft charges in Victoria Australia.

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