Crime rates in the inner west show no sign of improving, with both Hobsons Bay and Maribyrnong recording double digit increases in the latest data released on Thursday.
For the year to June 2025, recorded offences in Hobsons Bay increased by 23.9 per cent and by 16.1 per cent in Maribyrnong according to figures released by the Crime Statistics Agency (CSA).
In Hobsons Bay, Altona North overtook Williamstown as the suburb with the most crime, recording 1563 offences up from 1118.
Williamstown recorded 1394 offences, only a slight increase on the 1370 from 12 months earlier.
Altona Meadows also recorded more than a thousand offences, coming third on 1135, ahead of Newport (900) and Laverton (789).
Once again, thefts from motor vehicles were the most common crime, increasing by more than 500 from 914 to 1456, well ahead of other theft on 838.
Houses were the most common location for crimes to occur, with 1977 recorded ahead of streets, lanes and footpaths on 1430.
Both results were an increase on the previous year.
In Maribyrnong, thefts from motor vehicles increased by nearly a thousand, with 2585 recorded compared to 1685 a year earlier and more than double the second most common crime, other theft, which recorded 1189, a slight improvement on the previous year.
Footscray was by far the suburb with the most crime, recording 4539 offences, up from 3810 a year earlier and more than double second placed Maribyrnong on 2087.
Unlike Hobsons Bay, streets lanes and footpaths were the most common location, recording 2809 offences, an increase of nearly 700 from the 2130 recorded a year earlier and nearly a thousand ahead of houses on 1931.
Hobsons Bay Local Area Commander Acting Inspector Chloe Hayward said theft from motor vehicles remained the most common crime in the inner west, with numberplate theft accounting for 40 per cent of such offences.
“Stolen numberplates are often used by offenders to hide the identity of a vehicle when committing other crimes such as burglaries, ram raids, petrol drive offs and to evade police,” said Acting Inspector Hayward who advised car owners to install anti-theft screws to prevent them falling victim.
