Victoria is grappling with a record-high crime wave driven by a huge jump in theft, threatening people’s right to feel safe in their homes and communities.

The number of criminal offences in the state surged 15.7 per cent in the 12 months to the end of June 2025, quarterly figures from the Crime Statistics Agency released on Thursday showed.

The crime rate, which takes population growth into account, rose by 13.8 per cent.

It’s the second time in a row that the quarterly data has revealed a record number of criminal incidents.

“As a society, we simply cannot allow the level of crime we are seeing to become normalised and accepted – every Victorian deserves to feel safe in their home, within the community and on the roads,” Victoria Police Deputy Commissioner Bob Hill said.

Four of the five fastest-growing offences involved theft, including theft from motor vehicle up 39.4 per cent and motor vehicle theft up 42.1 per cent, the highest level since 2002.

Children were again overrepresented in serious and violent crimes despite making up just 12.8 per cent of all offenders.

However, 149 fewer child offenders were arrested overall, which the force said showed repeat offenders were driving the arrest numbers.

Offences involving prohibited and controlled weapons were up 11.5 per cent and there was a record number of family violence incidents, up 7.7 per cent in a year.

Bail decisions across the decade were analysed for the first time, revealing bail applications at magistrates courts jumped 18.4 per cent in 12 months. The agency linked it to higher bail refusals and revocations.

It’s the first quarterly crime snapshot since tougher bail laws, which scrapped the principle of remand as a last resort for children and reintroduced bail offences, came into effect in March.

Stricter machete ownership rules came into force on September 1, but the impact is yet to be captured in crime data. A second lot of bail changes targeting repeat serious offenders will also soon come into force.

State Police Minister Anthony Carbines said the rising crime rate was “unacceptable” but did not say when there would be an improvement.

“Victoria Police and the government are focused on pulling up the crime rate as soon as we can,” he said on Thursday.

There is heightened concern about youth crime in Melbourne following the fatal stabbing of two boys as they walked home from basketball earlier this month.

Chol Achiek, 12, and Dau Akueng, 15, were allegedly set upon in by a group of masked males armed with machetes and other bladed weapons at Cobblebank, in Melbourne’s outer north-west.

Eight teens have been charged with their murders and Victoria Police Commissioner Mike Bush was among senior police to call for tougher penalties for youth crime following the killings.

Five teens were also arrested on Thursday over a string of alleged aggravated burglaries and attempted home invasions in Melbourne’s south-east.

Some 654 burglars and car thieves were arrested 1700 times in the 12 months to the end of August as part of Operation Trinity, a special operation involving extra Victoria Police officers deployed at night.

Up to 65 per cent of aggravated burglaries recorded in “key hotspots” involved unlocked doors, windows or an offender walking away once they realised property was locked.

-AAP