Evidence-based crime prevention activities target specific, vulnerable locations, communities and priority issues. Providing supporting evidence is an important way of demonstrating the crime prevention issue or problem you are trying to address. This evidence will also prove a valuable resource for setting objectives for and evaluating the outcomes of your project.

There are multiple sources of evidence you can include in your application, for example community safety audits, such as Crime Prevention through Environmental Design (CPTED) audits, survey or community engagement results, and photographs.

How the Crime Statistics Agency can help

The Crime Statistics Agency (CSA) publishes and releases statistical information relating to crime in Victoria and undertakes research into, and analysis of, crime and criminal justice issues and trends. CSA can provide customised data requests and consultancies to meet specific requirements.

CSA data is based on events recorded by Victoria Police, which may be different to community perceptions of safety and what crime is occurring in that area.

If you are determining what specific crime prevention issue you want to address through your crime prevention project, the latest crime data released by the CSA will help you figure out what some of the key issues are in your area.

The CSA releases recorded crime statistics on the Crime Statistics website every quarter and you can view recorded incidents broken down by offence type, LGA, suburb or postcode.

Contact the CSA when you have a sense of what issue your crime prevention project will focus on. The CSA may provide you with specific recorded crime data to support your program development and grant application. This may involve a specific extraction of data to focus on a particular area, or a particular type of crime within your municipality. For example, the CSA may be able to extract crime occurring at or a near a train station in your area. Small requests are usually fulfilled for free, while more complicated requests may incur a small cost-recovery fee if they are more time consuming.

Talk to the CSA about what you require so they can advise on feasibility and any possible costs and guide you through the process.

For more information contact the CSA via email info@crimestatistics.vic.gov.au (External link) or phone (03) 8684 1808. And remember, make contact early to make sure they can provide you with the information you need, when you need it!

Read more about how the CSA can help you.

Go to the CSA website (External link)