Wesfarmers CEO and managing director Rob Scott has told shareholders that customer threatening incidents at Kmart Group have surged by 29 per cent.
This comes amid a group-wide increase in customer threatening behaviour and retail crime, with other retail companies also reporting surges.
As well as Kmart and Target, Wesfarmers also owns Officeworks and Bunnings, and manages select pharmacies such as Priceline and Soul Patterson.
“As always, safety comes first at Wesfarmers. We take our responsibility to create safe, inclusive and respectful workplaces very seriously,” Scott told shareholders at the group’s AGM this morning.
“While group total recordable injury frequency rate improved to 9.5, during the year we experienced a significant worsening of retail crime and customer threatening situations.
“Over 12 months, we recorded 13,500 customer threatening incidents in our retail stores – including more than 1,000 instances of physical assault and several hundred threats of serious harm, often with a weapon.”
Alongside a 29 per cent lift in customer threats at Kmart Group, Bunnings also recorded a 66 per cent lift in incidents involving threats of serious harm.
In response, Wesfarmers has strengthened security in higher‑risk locations, as well as increased training for team members including in de‑escalation and deployed body-worn cameras where appropriate.
“We share intelligence with our retail peers, Governments and police – because they also have important roles to play in addressing this growing hazard,” Scott said.
“We support sensible reform – including tougher, nationally consistent penalties for violent retail crime and a national conversation to enable controlled, responsible use of technology to exclude known violent offenders from retail environments, which is in the community interest.
“Our position is clear – our team members must be safe and respected at work. We will keep investing, partnering and advocating until we see sustained improvement.”
Wesfarmers is not the only retailer reporting increases in retail crime. Super Retail Group – the owner of Rebel, Macpac, BCF and Supercheap Auto – also reported a surge in theft and staff abuse by customers.
The interim group CEO David Burns (soon to be replaced by Paul Bradshaw, the managing director of BCF) said it is unacceptable that retail workers across Australia are facing an escalating tide of abuse, threats and physical assaults.
“These are not just statistics – they are our colleagues, friends and family members who deserve to feel safe and respected at work,” Burns said.
“We are strengthening our security measures to manage these risks by enhancing team member training and investing in a number of in-store initiatives such as new security gates, body worn cameras, enhanced CCTV monitoring, security tagging and various forms of securing high value inventory to fixtures or behind counters.”
The Australian Retailers Association (ARA) has also been vocal about surging retail crime across the country, with recent data showing retail crime in Victoria and Tasmania are particularly elevated.
“Tackling the horrific levels of retail crime and violence requires new solutions,” ARA CEO Chris Rodwell said. “Last year, there were around 800,000 retail crime incidents across Australia and that number continues to grow.
“One in four incidents involves violence or intimidation, with weapon-related crime up 66 per cent year-on-year. More than half of retailers report their staff face physical abuse at least monthly.
“Organised crime networks and repeat offenders are driving the greatest harm – just 10 per cent of offenders are responsible for more than 60 per cent of reported loss and damage.”
Rodwell said the retail community is working with state governments and other industry stakeholders to tackle retail crime on several fronts. Alongside recently mentioned solutions, he also noted that facial recognition technology must be part of the solution.
This comes after Kmart and Bunnings were reprimanded by the Privacy Commissioner Carly Kind for using facial recognition technology between 2020 and 2022, in a bid to crack down on refund fraud.
“FRT is not a magic cure, but it is part of the solution, especially in combatting the impact of repeat offenders,” Rodwell said. “Its use in other countries has delivered strong results. A pilot program in New Zealand’s Foodstuffs supermarkets prevented over 100 violent incidents in six months and reduced serious harm by 16 per cent.
“Support for FRT rose to 89 per cent once people understood its safety benefits.
“No one should have to put their life on the line to go to work – yet too many of Australia’s 1.4 million retail workers, especially younger staff, are being subjected to violence and abuse. We owe it to them to explore every responsible solution, including facial recognition technology.”