🚔 The 10 Most Dangerous LGAs in Victoria

The 10 Victorian Local Government Areas with the highest weighted crime rate for the year ending September 2025, ranked using Crime Statistics Agency recorded incidents per 100,000 residents.

Published 19 May 2026 · Crime Statistics Agency Victoria, year ending September 2025

Out of 76 Victorian LGAs with reliable CSA data for the year ending September 2025, these are the 10 with the highest weighted crime score. The score sums 14 personal-safety offence groups (per 100,000 residents) weighted by severity.

High-ranking LGAs split into two groups: dense inner-Melbourne councils (Melbourne, Yarra, Port Phillip, Stonnington) where huge daytime/tourist populations inflate rates calculated on resident headcounts; and large regional centres (Latrobe, Mildura, Greater Shepparton, Horsham) where elevated rates of violence and property crime are persistent.

Melbourne 149,615 residents

Safety score 25395 (weighted sum of offence rates per 100k — lower is safer)

Break & enter (dwelling)

550.4 /100k

Up 22.3%

Motor vehicle theft

785.3 /100k

Up 73.2%

Non-FV assault

1,345.5 /100k

Stable

Robbery (unarmed)

26.2 /100k

Down 19.7%

Steal from vehicle

2,849.7 /100k

Up 154.0%

Biggest score drivers: Non-FV assault 1345/100k Sexual offences 340/100k Steal from motor vehicle 2850/100k

Latrobe 77,318 residents

Safety score 19872 (weighted sum of offence rates per 100k — lower is safer)

Break & enter (dwelling)

634.4 /100k

Stable

Motor vehicle theft

412.9 /100k

Up 78.3%

Non-FV assault

642 /100k

Up 16.1%

Robbery (unarmed)

5 /100k

Down 21.3%

Steal from vehicle

1,065 /100k

Up 33.2%

Biggest score drivers: Sexual offences 368/100k Non-FV assault 642/100k Residential burglary 634/100k

Port Phillip 101,942 residents

Safety score 18233 (weighted sum of offence rates per 100k — lower is safer)

Break & enter (dwelling)

726.1 /100k

Up 25.5%

Motor vehicle theft

729.6 /100k

Up 83.8%

Non-FV assault

565.7 /100k

Up 13.8%

Robbery (unarmed)

6.1 /100k

Up 33.7%

Steal from vehicle

2,554 /100k

Up 49.2%

Biggest score drivers: Sexual offences 228/100k Residential burglary 726/100k Non-FV assault 566/100k

Yarra 90,114 residents

Safety score 17950 (weighted sum of offence rates per 100k — lower is safer)

Break & enter (dwelling)

705 /100k

Up 29.5%

Motor vehicle theft

618.9 /100k

Up 74.4%

Non-FV assault

773.6 /100k

Up 21.7%

Robbery (unarmed)

10.8 /100k

Up 31.3%

Steal from vehicle

2,307.1 /100k

Up 43.2%

Biggest score drivers: Non-FV assault 774/100k Residential burglary 705/100k Sexual offences 170/100k

Ararat 11,880 residents

Safety score 17794 (weighted sum of offence rates per 100k — lower is safer)

Break & enter (dwelling)

504.5 /100k

Up 25.4%

Motor vehicle theft

265.1 /100k

Up 23.9%

Non-FV assault

384.8 /100k

Down 18.3%

Robbery (unarmed)

0 /100k

—

Steal from vehicle

538.7 /100k

Up 33.9%

Biggest score drivers: Sexual offences 376/100k FV assault 778/100k Residential burglary 505/100k

Maribyrnong 85,209 residents

Safety score 16220 (weighted sum of offence rates per 100k — lower is safer)

Break & enter (dwelling)

562.3 /100k

Up 22.6%

Motor vehicle theft

760.6 /100k

Up 121.6%

Non-FV assault

505.7 /100k

Stable

Robbery (unarmed)

8.4 /100k

Up 28.4%

Steal from vehicle

2,746.5 /100k

Up 92.9%

Biggest score drivers: Steal from motor vehicle 2747/100k Non-FV assault 506/100k Motor vehicle theft 761/100k

Greater Dandenong 158,208 residents

Safety score 15971 (weighted sum of offence rates per 100k — lower is safer)

Break & enter (dwelling)

428.2 /100k

Stable

Motor vehicle theft

635.5 /100k

Up 67.1%

Non-FV assault

489.2 /100k

Stable

Robbery (unarmed)

11.3 /100k

Up 31.7%

Steal from vehicle

1,708.1 /100k

Up 40.8%

Biggest score drivers: Sexual offences 201/100k Non-FV assault 489/100k Motor vehicle theft 636/100k

Northern Grampians 11,948 residents

Safety score 15840 (weighted sum of offence rates per 100k — lower is safer)

Break & enter (dwelling)

331.8 /100k

Up 23.2%

Motor vehicle theft

212.7 /100k

Up 215.8%

Non-FV assault

570 /100k

Up 38.2%

Robbery (unarmed)

0 /100k

—

Steal from vehicle

263.7 /100k

Up 141.0%

Biggest score drivers: Sexual offences 357/100k Non-FV assault 570/100k FV assault 749/100k

Wellington 45,639 residents

Safety score 15678 (weighted sum of offence rates per 100k — lower is safer)

Break & enter (dwelling)

494.7 /100k

Up 59.5%

Motor vehicle theft

191.9 /100k

Up 84.4%

Non-FV assault

432.8 /100k

Up 10.3%

Robbery (unarmed)

0 /100k

Down 100.0%

Steal from vehicle

577.8 /100k

Up 81.3%

Biggest score drivers: Sexual offences 354/100k FV assault 753/100k Non-FV assault 433/100k

#10

Stonnington 104,703 residents

Safety score 15130 (weighted sum of offence rates per 100k — lower is safer)

Break & enter (dwelling)

941.6 /100k

Up 51.4%

Motor vehicle theft

512.9 /100k

Up 119.8%

Non-FV assault

452.1 /100k

Stable

Robbery (unarmed)

7.8 /100k

Down 42.0%

Steal from vehicle

2,246.8 /100k

Up 76.2%

Biggest score drivers: Residential burglary 942/100k Non-FV assault 452/100k Steal from motor vehicle 2247/100k

📊 How the safety score works

For each Victorian Local Government Area we take the CSA's recorded incident rates (per 100,000 residents) for 14 ANZSOC offence groups that materially affect personal safety, multiply each by a severity weight, and sum the result. Higher scores rank as less safe. The model is the same one used for the NSW ranking, mapped from BOCSAR's offence categories to Victoria's ANZSOC subgroups.

Two- and ten-year trends are computed as the percent change between the year-ending September 2025 rate and the same metric in 2023 and 2016 respectively, bucketed into Stable (<10% change), Up, or Down.

LGAs with fewer than 5,000 residents (e.g. Queenscliffe) are excluded because small populations make rates statistically noisy.

For LGAs with very high non-resident populations (CBD councils, tourist towns), interpret the score as "incidents per resident", not "risk to a resident". A more accurate denominator would include workers, students, and visitors — which CSA does not publish.

This is an ordinal ranking, not a victimisation estimate. It reflects recorded police incidents, which understate some offences (sexual assault, family violence) and overstate others where reporting culture or police presence varies between LGAs. Inner-city councils with large daytime/visitor populations (Melbourne, Yarra, Port Phillip) appear less safe than they feel to residents because rates are computed on resident population only.

Show offence weights

Offence group	ANZSOC subgroups	Weight
Homicide	A10 Homicide and related offences	100
Sexual offences	A30 Sexual offences	15
Aggravated robbery	A51 Aggravated robbery	12
Non-aggravated robbery	A52 Non-Aggravated robbery	8
Non-FV assault	A212 Non-FV Serious assault, A232 Non-FV Common assault	5
Residential burglary	B311 Residential aggravated burglary, B321 Residential non-aggravated burglary	4
FV assault	A211 FV Serious assault, A231 FV Common assault	3
Assault police	A22 Assault police, emergency services or other authorised officer	3
Motor vehicle theft	B41 Motor vehicle theft	3
Stalking, harassment, threats	A711 FV Stalking, A712 Non-FV Stalking, A721 FV Harassment and private nuisance, A722 Non-FV Harassment and private nuisance, A731 FV Threatening behaviour, A732 Non-FV Threatening behaviour	2
Arson / fire	B11 Cause damage by fire, B12 Cause a bushfire, B19 Other fire related offences	2
Non-residential burglary	B312 Non-residential aggravated burglary, B322 Non-residential non-aggravated burglary	1
Steal from motor vehicle	B42 Steal from a motor vehicle	1
Property damage	B21 Criminal damage, B22 Graffiti, B29 Other property damage offences	1

Source: Crime Statistics Agency Victoria · Data Tables LGA Criminal Incidents, year ending September 2025