There wasn’t much relief for businesses during the pandemic, but a break from thefts was one of the perks.

In a post-pandemic world, however, the thieves are back out and about, with retail thefts on the rise statewide. 

Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research (BOCSAR) Executive Director Jackie Fitzgerald said that the increased crime levels aren’t related to the cost of living crisis.

“There have been concerns that high inflation and rising cost of living have triggered a surge in shoplifting, but the view of retail theft presented by Police data does not support this,” Ms Fitzgerald said. 

“If emerging external factors like cost of living were driving an increase in retail theft, we would expect theft volumes to be noticeably higher than pre-pandemic levels.”

Despite this, The number of food and beverage items stolen has risen by 13.6 per cent in the last five years, which extends to pre-pandemic years, and supermarkets are the main locations where retail theft is taking place. 

In smaller western towns the scale of the problem is not so dramatic, although no doubt still a concern for business owners and police. Trends over the past five years show little change for most communities from pre-pandemic levels, and some with a slight reduction, although an escalation in Bourke since the covid lockdown is worrisome.

NSW Recorded Crime Statistics July 2018-June 2023

Incidents of crime recorded by the NSW Police Force by Local Government Area: number, rates^ and trends^^

Offence type: steal from retail store

Source: BOCSAR Latest Quarterly Crime Reports by LGA. [Note: nc = no change]

Staff safety a concern

Several reports have found that major supermarkets are experiencing record-high stock losses from theft, with new security measures being introduced across various companies such as body cameras, rooftop sensors, Artificial Intelligence scanning, and automatic gates.

While some technologies are assumed to be to prevent theft, supermarkets have claimed that some of the recent additions are safety measures for staff. 

Australian Retailers Association (ARA) CEO Paul Zahra said that increased retail theft has had a major impact on staff. 

“Most of our members have seen an increase in retail crime and have had enough of the toll this is taking on their teams,” Mr Zahra said. 

In June, NSW introduced harsher penalties for assaulting retail workers, where harassing or intimidating a retail worker in the course of their duty - even without bodily harm - could result in a maximum of 4 years’ imprisonment. 

“All retail workers, whether they’re a casual in their first job or doing the night shift at the local convenience store, have a right to feel safe at work.”

The data into retail theft was part of a larger analysis of crime in NSW, which found that major offences have trended downwards over the last five years, including murder and robbery, however both domestic violence assault and sexual assault have trended upwards over the same period.