Data
Australian Property Theft Statistics, 2024
Victim counts and population-adjusted rates for theft, motor vehicle theft and unlawful entry, for Australia and every state and territory — sourced directly from the Australian Bureau of Statistics and recalculated per 100,000 people so jurisdictions can be compared fairly.
Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Recorded Crime – Victims, 2024, released 3 September 2025.
Other theft
595,660
+6.2% on 2023
2,190.4 per 100,000 people
Motor vehicle theft
65,603
+7.5% on 2023
241.2 per 100,000 people
Unlawful entry with intent
160,979
2023 — +6.4% on 2022
No national 2024 figure published (see note below)
Nationally, other theft reached 595,660 victims in 2024 — the highest count in 21 years, and +6.2% on the year before. Motor vehicle theft rose +7.5% to 65,603.
How the states and territories compare
Ranked by other-theft rate per 100,000 people. Rates matter more than raw counts here: the largest states record the most offences simply because more people live in them.
| Jurisdiction | Other theft | per 100k | Vehicle theft | per 100k | Unlawful entry |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Northern Territory | 7,904 | 3,029.7 | 1,737 | 665.8 | 6,640 (2023) |
| Western Australia | 81,930 | 2,751 | 5,653 | 189.8 | 16,607 |
| Queensland | 152,421 | 2,735.5 | 17,493 | 314 | 45,273 |
| South Australia | 47,693 | 2,533.9 | 3,479 | 184.8 | 9,901 |
| Victoria | 169,673 | 2,441 | 22,504 | 323.8 | 45,895 |
| Tasmania | 11,279 | 1,962.4 | 1,493 | 259.8 | 2,969 |
| New South Wales | 118,533 | 1,395.8 | 12,319 | 145.1 | 32,913 |
| Australian Capital Territory | 6,227 | 1,301.5 | 920 | 192.3 | 1,449 |
What the numbers show
Population changes the ranking completely
New South Wales records more theft victims than any other jurisdiction except Victoria — 118,533 in 2024. Adjusted for population, though, it ranks 7 of 8, at 1,395.8 per 100,000 against a national 2,190.4. Raw counts describe how many people live somewhere at least as much as they describe crime.
Northern Territory has the highest theft rate in the country
At 3,029.7 other-theft victims per 100,000, Northern Territory sits well above the national rate of 2,190.4 — and its motor vehicle theft rate of 665.8 is the highest of any jurisdiction. Australian Capital Territory records the lowest theft rate at 1,301.5.
Victoria drove the national increase
Victoria's other-theft count rose +29.2% in 2024 — far steeper than any other jurisdiction, and the main reason the national figure reached a 21-year high.
Statistics by state and territory
Method and sources
Victim counts come from Australian Bureau of Statistics, Recorded Crime – Victims, 2024, the national statistical standard for recorded crime. Reference period is the 2024 calendar year.
Rates per 100,000 are our own calculation, not an ABS figure — the ABS does not publish victimisation rates for property offences. We divide each year's victim count by that same year's Estimated Resident Population from ABS National, state and territory population, ERP at 30 June 2024. Using a single year's population across a multi-year trend would distort it, since Australia's population grew about 14% over the last decade.
The ABS randomly adjusts individual cells to protect confidentiality, so state and territory figures do not sum exactly to the national totals. We report both as published rather than reconciling them.
No national unlawful entry figure was published for 2024, because Northern Territory data for that offence was unavailable. The most recent national figure is 2023. ABS also advises that Northern Territory data from 2024 onwards is not comparable with earlier periods.
Counts include offences against organisations as well as individuals, so they are not a count of households affected. Reported crime also undercounts actual crime — theft in particular often goes unreported.
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