Farm fuel theft escalates

Kyabram police Senior Sergeant Justin McAuley said while overall offending was down, from 421 offences to 398, fuel theft was emerging as an issue police expected to see more often.

“We are already seeing fuel thefts from farms on the rise,” he said.

“We need assistance from the public to notify us of any suspicious behaviour, especially at night in and around our more rural locations.”

High petrol prices are also fuelling another crime trend, with theft from motor vehicles jumping 54 per cent, from 22 offences to 34.

Sen Sgt Justin McAuley said much of the rise could be traced to a single incident in which number plates were stolen from nine vehicles at a rural property.

“Number plates are a common target, especially with the price of fuel at the moment,” he said.

Police are also seeing opportunistic thefts from unlocked vehicles, particularly when valuables are left in plain sight.

“Predominantly, where a theft occurs from inside the vehicle, they are unlocked,” Sen Sgt McAuley said.

The Crime Statistics Agency figures reveal criminal damage also rose 16 per cent, from 38 offences to 44.

But Sen Sgt McAuley said the relatively small increase largely stemmed from a spate of graffiti offences, with those responsible identified and charged.

While property and deception offences have risen for two consecutive years, from 173 in 2024 to 199 in 2025 and 210 this year, they remain well below the 291 recorded in 2019.

Sen Sgt McAuley said increased reporting, particularly of deception offences, had contributed to the latest rise rather than a surge in offending by habitual criminals.

He said police were using targeted offender management and technology including Automatic Number Plate Recognition to tackle repeat offending, while continuing to push crime prevention and suspicious behaviour reporting.

Motor vehicle theft, meanwhile, fell substantially from 16 offences to nine, but Sen Sgt McAuley said the 2025 figure had been inflated by one incident in which five vehicles were stolen from a car yard.

“We worked with the business to improve security and other similar businesses in the cluster to identify deficiencies that could be rectified in the proactive space,” he said.

One of the most striking changes was in drug offending, which plunged more than 73 per cent from 41 offences to 11, its lowest level in the decade of data.

Sen Sgt McAuley said police had been actively targeting trafficking and cultivation, executing numerous search warrants in Kyabram and surrounding towns during the past 12 months.

“These efforts have been very successful and will continue,” he said.

“This has also been possible by the information we regularly receive from the community.”

Crimes against the person remained relatively stable, slipping from 85 to 84 offences, while public order and security offences fell from 34 to 18.

Despite increases in some categories, Kyabram’s 398 recorded offences remain about 27 per cent below the decade-high 548 recorded in 2019.