Community safety

• Lock Your House, Hide Your Keys! Protect your property at night and during the day by locking all doors and windows to your home and garage. When you finish for the day put your car keys in a secure non-obvious spot. For information on securing your home visit Neighbourhood Watch and How safe is my place.
• Protect your car from theft. Is your vehicle secure? Are your keys easily accessible? Never leave your keys in your car, and keep spare keys in a secure place.
• Remove it, Lock it or Lose it. Theft from cars is the main crime occurring in Stonnington. Most crime occurs at night from unlocked vehicles. To prevent theft, LOCK your car, even if only away from it for a few moments, and do NOT leave valuables in your car.
• Bicycle security. Protect your bike by using a good quality lock and using it properly, making your bike identifiable and consider insuring it.
• Going away? Did you know you can register your absence from residence with Service Victoria?
• For more crime prevention tips visit Victoria Police - home and property.
• Secure your number plates. Make it harder for your number plates to be stolen by fitting anti-theft screws. Free anti-theft screws are available from Malvern Police Station (10am-6pm daily) and Prahran Police Station (24/7). Subject to availability, Police members can help fit the screws if required. For more information, visit SafePL8.

The 9pm routine will be launched in Community Safety Month (October 2023) and is a reminder to residents to secure their property to prevent theft.

Thieves are opportunistic and look for easy targets. You can make it more difficult for them by locking items away and keeping them out of sight; and locking doors and windows.

The 9pm routine makes it a habit to:

• Collect valuables from your car.
• Lock your car.
• Lock your home (doors and windows).
• Lock your garage.
• Leave an outside light on.

If you see something, say something:

• In an emergency, call 000 (triple zero).
• For non-urgent matters, call 131 444 or report online to Victoria Police.
• If you have information that could help solve a crime, make an anonymous report to Crime Stoppers Victoria on 1800 333 000.

Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED) is an approach to designing facilities and public places to reduce the incidence of crime and make places feel safer.

Council supports and applies a CPTED approach when developing new or updating existing public spaces, precincts and community facilities.

For more information visit Why CPTED is good for business at Neighbourhood Watch Victoria.

Check out Connect Stonnington for current projects and to provide feedback about community safety issues and concerns.

• Visit Neighbourhood Watch 4 Kids to learn the simple things you can do to feel and be safer and for links to online resources about keeping kids safe, such as the Triple Zero Kids Challenge.
• Did you know that the home is the most common place for childhood injury? For information on how to prevent unintentional injuries and how to create a safe home environment for your children, visit Kidsafe Victoria
• The eSafety Commissioner has a wealth of advice, information, resources and training to help us have safer online experiences, including advice for parents and carers, young people and kids.
• Visit our Middle Years and Youth Services pages and the Stonnington Youth Services website for information on events, programs and services available to keep young people supported and engaged.
• Partysafe and have fun. Visit the Victoria Police Partysafe Program to download the booklet and find out about responsible planning, and minimising the risks associated with intoxicated guests and gate crashers. Register your party with Victoria Police Partysafe at least one week before the event or at your local police station.

Road safety is a shared responsibility. We can all do something to make our roads safer for all road users.

• Are you feeling a little rusty when it comes to road rules? With an increasing number of Victorians driving around, it's important we stay safe when sharing our roads. Brush up on current road rules and test your knowledge through VicRoads' interactive refresher course - Road Rules Education Online.
• Pedestrians are among the most vulnerable users of our roads. Visit VicRoads Pedestrian Safety for information and tips on staying safe including for children.
• Motorised scooters: It is currently against the law to ride an e-scooter or e-skateboard on any Victorian public road, cycle lane or footpath. The only place an e-scooter or e-skateboard can legally be used is on private land. For more information on electric scooter safety and laws, visit the RACV's e-scooter FAQ.

For information about what Council is doing, visit:

• Road Safety including Driver safety programs
• Sustainable Transport including cycling

Stay safe online.

Crime Stoppers Victoria: Smart Scam Guide.

For information about online safety issues, practical tips, training, and advice on what to do if things go wrong, visit the eSafety Commissioner - Australia's independent regulator for online safety.

There is online safety advice and resources in other languages, community education and training and eSafety for seniors including free Be Connected learning resources and courses.

For help to recognise and avoid scams, visit Scamwatch run by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC). Scamwatch provides information to consumers and small businesses about how to recognise, avoid and report scams.

For more information visit Victoria Police - frauds and scams.

A connected community is a safer community. The safer people feel, the more likely they are to participate fully in community life. Providing a safe community is essential to community health and wellbeing.

For ideas on getting to know your neighbours visit the Neighbours Every Day website.

Consider setting up a Neighbourhood Watch group or organise a home safety gathering with your neighbours. Visit the Neighbourhood Watch website for more information.

Get involved in Neighbour Day - Relationships Australia’s annual celebration of community. Held on the last Sunday in March, find out more by visiting the Neighbour Day website.

Schedule the delivery to happen when you will be home. If you are not home, arrange for a trusted neighbour, friend or family to collect the parcel when it is delivered. If given the option, select ‘click and collect’ or register for a free Australia Post parcel locker. Don’t authorise your parcels to be left in the foyer or unsecured room and never instruct delivery drivers to leave your parcel in a ‘safe place’. Make sure your letterbox has a high quality strong letterbox lock and that the mail slot is narrow enough so a hand can’t reach in.

Be alert for tailgaters and don’t let strangers into the building. If you see someone acting suspiciously call 000 and say hello to anyone you don’t recognise to let them know they’ve been noticed. Don’t leave valuables in cars and lock your bicycle, motorbike or scooter securely to a solid fixed point. Secure your storage cage.

Crime prevention is just as important for business as it is for individuals. Visit Victoria Police for advice on maintaining safety and preventing crime.

Neighborhood Watch also has crime prevention information for small businesses including how to prevent armed robbery, retail theft, and small business scams and fraud

Businesses that want to serve or sell alcohol need a special permit from Council and a Liquor Licence. Visit our Licensed premises permit page for more information including an invitation to join the Stonnington Liquor Forum.

• Entertainment precincts and nightlife areas, laneways, residential streets, travelling on public transport, and bike and shared pathways are places where more people report feeling unsafe.
• Seeing or experiencing people speeding in cars, litter or rubbish, alcohol and drug debris, graffiti, and noisy, rowdy and inconsiderate behaviour in the street contributes most to feeling unsafe.
• Just over half (50.9 per cent) of residents felt that they live in a close-knit neighbourhood, significantly less than the Victorian estimate (61.0 per cent).
• There were 9,494 criminal incidents in 2020, an 8.4 per cent increase from 2019. Public health and safety offences related to COVID restrictions caused the biggest increase.
• People aged 25 to 34 experience the most harm, and males experience more harm than females. Stonnington has had a higher victimisation rate for the last five years than the Victorian average.
• Of all crimes in Stonnington, 74 per cent were categorised as low harm crime, 15.3 per cent as medium harm crime, and 10.7 per cent as high harm crime.