Crime rates are decreasing in Central Victoria, despite other parts of the state experiencing a rise in such activity.
That’s according to the latest data from the Crime Statistics Agency, released yesterday (Thursday, March 19th).
Figures show that in the year to December 2025, the Greater Bendigo region saw 8,654 criminal incidents recorded by police, a fall of around nine percent compared 2024’s figure of 9,508.
The number of offences reported also dropped by 5.3 percent, to 12,282.
This marks the first year that Bendigo’s crime rate has decreased since 2021, with 9,633.8 offences now recorded for every 100 thousand people.
That number is higher than the statewide average of 6,668.6 per 100k people, through still below several other regional council areas like Ballarat, Shepparton, Mildura and Horsham.
Breaching a Family Violence Order was the most common offence to occur in Bendigo with 1,998 incidents reported, followed by stealing from a retail store (903) and criminal damage (895).
Across Victoria, the number of criminal incidents reported went up by four percent, and the number of offences by 4.2 percent.
Mount Alexander Shire experienced a sharper rise in its crime rate of 15 percent, while the Central Goldfields region saw a 17 percent fall in the number of offences.
In response to the figures, State Minister for Police and Community Safety, Anthony Carbines said any crime being committed was “unacceptable”.
“There’s more work to do to keep the community safe, but we can already see that our tougher bail laws are working, and offending by young males is now falling,” Mr Carbines said.
“There are too many victims in the community, but that is why we’ve delivered Adult Time for Violent Crime [policies], toughened bail laws, and backed Victoria Police with more powers.”
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