How likely is a home burglary?
It’s everyone’s worst nightmare – you’re out enjoying the day or sleeping soundly at night, when you come home or awake to find your home has been robbed. Even if your house (and everything in it) is fully insured, it’s still a huge fear for many. But just how likely are you to experience a burglary?
According to the Australian Institute of Criminology, in 2015 there were more than 184,000 reported burglaries in Australia. While this number is a huge improvement on 2003 numbers (a staggering 354,000), it remains one of the most common crimes in the country. In fact, approximately one in 40 households in Australia will be burgled this year. Sadly, our burglary rate of two-and-a-half per cent is much higher than the international average of 1.8 per cent.
Statistically speaking, you’re most likely to experience a burglary during the day on a Friday – likely during the month of October. Residents of the Northern Territory are most likely to burgled, with six per cent of homes broken into, while ACT residents are safest, with less than two per cent of households reporting break-ins. Unfortunately, if you’ve been broken into once, it mightn’t be the last time – 20 per cent of victims in 2010 had already been burgled previously.
In terms of what you might expect to lose, cash was the most common target, followed by computers, jewellery, cameras, mobile devices, wallets, passport/ID, TVs, gaming consoles and watches.
If you’d like to protect your home and belongings, Western Australia police found these seven factors were most likely to deter would-be criminals:
- A dog – particularly a noisy dog.
- A working security system.
- Lights on inside the house.
- Security grilles on windows and doors.
- House located in an area unknown to the robber.
- House located in a highly-visible area (i.e. close to busy roads).
- Working sensor lights.
- Gates.