Stealing from a retail store is one of the fastest surging offences across New South Wales, according to new data from the Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research.
In the 12 months to March 2026, retail theft offences are up 9.1 per cent on a two-year trend, hitting 31,588 offences over the last year. This is the highest yearly figure over the last 10 years, which is up from 21,791 retail theft offences in the 12 months to March 2017.
It dropped to a low of 17,588 in the year to March 2022, before scaling to a peak over the last year.
Reported retail theft was driven by increases in theft of liquor (up 13 per cent) and clothing and footwear (up 17 per cent).
On a ten-year trend, retail theft is up by 3.2 per cent. Some of the leading jurisdictions for retail theft include Richmond - Tweed (up 43.9 per cent over the two years), Murray (up 36.4 per cent), outer Western Sydney and Blue Mountains (up 31.5 per cent) and the Inner West of Sydney (up 30.2 per cent).
Interestingly, the Northern Beaches is the only jurisdiction to record a significant drop in retail theft, down 26.5 per cent.
In the March 2026 quarter, over the last two years, rising retail offences were more notable in regional NSW, with significant lifts in Ballina (up 147.7 pr cent), Canada Bay (up 86.9 per cent), Narrabri (up 81.3 per cent), with North Sydney (up 65.7 per cent) being the highest lift in metropolitan Sydney.
BOCSAR data showed that the only other category seeing a significant jump in offences was ‘other stealing’ offences, up 3.1 per cent over the two years to March 2026.
A key driver of the rise in other stealing offences is the rapid growth in e‑bike theft. Theft of motorised bicycles increased by 27 per cent over the past two years (up 436 incidents, from 1,644 to 2,080 in the year to March 2026), accounting for more than one‑third (37 per cent) of the total increase in other stealing offences where a stolen item was recorded.
“As e‑bikes have become more popular, they have also become more attractive targets for theft,” BOCSAR executive director Jackie Fitzgerald said. “Theft of e‑bikes has risen sharply and is now the major contributor to growth in other stealing offences.”
The increase in other stealing offences was concentrated in Greater Sydney (up 5.7 per cent) and remained stable in Regional NSW.
Within Sydney, significant increases were observed in the Central Coast (up 18.0 per cent), Eastern Suburbs (up 13.6 per cent), Parramatta (up 10.3 per cent) and the City & Inner South (up 9.6 per cent). Other contributors included theft of copper, which rose 16.3 per cent (up 192 incidents) and accounted for a further 16 per cent of the other stealing increase.
Licensed premises were the most common target for liquor theft, accounting for 21 per cent of incidents, with liquor making up 40 per cent of retail theft incidents where an item was recorded.
The latest data also show a sharp rise in adult court proceedings, which increased by 10 per cent over the two years to March 2026 (up 16,218 to 178,038 court actions in the year to March 2026).
Around one-third of this increase was driven by a rise in domestic violence–related charges (up 5,462 to 47,964 charges in the 12 months to March 2026, or up 13 per cent). Increases were also recorded for driving while disqualified (up 5,269 or 30 per cent), retail theft (up 1,272 or 16 per cent), drug possession (up 1,081, or 12 per cent), and weapons offences (up 481 or 14 per cent).
Much of the growth in adult court charges reflects increased enforcement and police proactivity rather than underlying growth in offending.
For example, charges for domestic violence assault increased by 13 per cent over the past two years, despite the number of incidents recorded by police remaining stable.
“We are seeing more proactive policing of domestic violence, with higher legal action rates,” Fitzgerald said. “The 90‑day legal action rate for domestic violence assault rose from 66 per cent to a record 71 per cent over the past two years, resulting in nearly 2,000 additional court actions.”
“Increases in offences such as ADVO breaches and domestic violence–related intimidation also point to stronger detection and enforcement by police. Similarly, rises in driving, drug and weapons offences largely reflect increased enforcement activity rather than changes in underlying offending.”