In response to the alarming rise in retail crime across the country, retailers, government, police, unions and crime experts are coming together to help improve safety and crime outcomes for retailers, teams and customers.
The Shop Distributive Alliance (SDA), Victoria Police, and the Victorian Government joined the Australian Retailers Association (ARA) and the National Retail Association (NRA) and their members at the 2025 Retail Crime Symposium in Melbourne to discuss a united and consistent national action plan against retail crime and violence.
Customer aggression and violent behaviour are on the rise, with retail crime having a devastating impact on businesses and their teams. And despite enhanced security measures, the data paints a
grim picture:
- 70% of retailers reported an increase in customer theft across the last financial year
- 51% of retailers said they experience physical abuse monthly or more often
- 87% of retail workers report experiencing verbal abuse
- Around 800,000 retail crime incidents were reported across Australia in the past year
- The top 10% of offenders are responsible for around 60% of total harm
- Over 50% of retail workers are women, and more than a third are aged 15-24 years - a combination that increases vulnerability to violent, repeat offenders
The Symposium will focus on cracking down on repeat offenders, with retail leaders and experts calling for national consistency in retail crime laws and police responses, ensuring uniform penalties and enforcement across all states and territories. Retailers are calling for:
- Federal leadership to galvanise an urgent response from all states and territories, and support awareness and safety training for retail workers, particularly with SMBs.
- Harmonised national retail crime legislation, including tougher penalties with a specific focus on crime committed in a retail setting. Tougher penalties have been successfully introduced in
South Australia, New South Wales and Western Australia.
- Adoption of best-practice protective legislation from across the country, including Workplace Protection Orders (WPOs) in the Australian Capital Territory and Jack's Law in Queensland.
- Dedicated police retail crime units in every state and territory, using South Australia's Operation Measure as a successful benchmark.
- Supporting the use of innovative technology to reduce the burden on retail teams and improve communication with police, including consideration of proven global technology such as facial recognition.
Quotes attributable to ARA CEO Chris Rodwell:
"The Symposium is an opportunity for industry and decision-makers to come together and strengthen our coordinated efforts against retail crime. We need our retail leaders, lawmakers and law enforcers in the same room alongside the experts to tackle this crisis head-on."
"Research shows that stricter laws positively impact retailers and communities, helping create safer working and shopping environments. However, police also need more resources to act effectively, and
retailers must improve reporting of these incidents to authorities."
"We've already seen a number of strong state-based responses to the retail crime crisis, including Jack's Law in Queensland and the Workplace Protection Orders in Australian Capital Territory. Now it's time for the states to work in lockstep."
"Retail workers have the right to feel safe in their workplace. We are calling on all states to support improved information sharing, increased focus on the human impact of retail crime, and greater adoption of smart technology."
"A nationally consistent response to implement the measures recommended by the Symposium would send a clear message to offenders: their actions will not be tolerated, and consequences will follow."
Quotes attributable to Attorney-General Sonya Kilkenny:
"Retail workers deserve nothing but our respect and deserve to be safe at work - that's why we continue to give Victoria Police the powers they need to crack down on offenders."
"We will introduce tougher laws against assault of retail workers by the end of the year - the Worker Protection Consultation Group has already met and begun work on potential new penalties or offences for retail worker abuse, harassment or intimidation."
"Our tough new bail laws are working to protect Victorian families from serious and repeat offending - putting community safety first in all bail decisions."
Quotes attributable to SDA National Secretary-Treasurer Gerard Dwyer:
"Customer abuse and aggression are a worsening epidemic threatening the safety of retail and fast food workers. Our industry campaign has helped shift the culture from "the customer is always right" to "No One Deserves A Serve".
"Working together through industry round tables and now, the Retail Employee Safety Council are all positive steps towards safer workplaces for retail and fast-food workers. Every worker has a right to be safe at work and these frontline workers need their union and their employer to be able to ban repeat offenders, including through workplace protection orders that are enforceable."
"Dangerous goods need to be controlled - knives and machetes cannot be allowed to be carried around stores. Improving incident reporting systems, policies and responses will result in better recognition of customer abuse as a workplace hazard - and Australian workplace safety laws need to
keep up with these hazards."
Quotes attributable to Bunnings Managing Director, Michael Schneider:
"Everyone deserves to feel safe at work, and while out shopping. No one should be subjected to abuse, threats or violence simply for doing their job or going about their day."
"Retail crime is an issue that affects our whole community, whether directly or through someone we care about."
"At Bunnings, the safety of our team, customers and suppliers is our top priority and we will continue work with governments, industry bodies and unions to strengthen protections and push for legislative change to better support frontline retail workers."
Quotes attributable to Sarah Faorlin, Head of Acts of Violence and Aggression, Woolworths Group:
"The alarming escalation in violent and aggressive incidents is an industry-wide challenge that needs government and industry working together to solve."
"Woolworths has been investing in a comprehensive suite of safety measures in our stores, from Virtual Reality training for our team, knife de-ranging, body worn cameras and personal safety alarms across our stores."
"Woolworths also currently has 13 Workplace Protection Orders in place in the ACT, which prohibit the highest harm offenders from our stores. We urge other governments to consider similar measures to help address this significant and growing problem to protect team and customers from harm."
Quotes attributable to Coles General Manager Health, Safety & Wellbeing, Angela Konstantopoulos:
"The safety of our team members and customers is, and always will be, our top priority. Violence and abuse in retail settings is utterly unacceptable. "
"Everyone deserves to feel safe, whether they're working or shopping, and retail violence, which is escalating across the industry, including at Coles, demands urgent action to protect workers and customers."
"We've made significant investments in advanced safety technologies and initiatives to better protect our teams and the communities we serve. Yet, despite these efforts, we continue to see unacceptable levels of abuse and threatening behaviour toward our staff."
"Addressing this crisis requires more than action from retailers alone. We want to work with industry partners, police, government, and community leaders nationwide to reduce incidents and build a culture of respect and safety in all retail settings."
Quotes attributable Auror Senior Director Trust and Safety Nick McDonnell:
"The serious and violent behaviour we see in Australian retail settngs every day is well-publicised, but these are not just one-off incidents – they're often caused by a small group of repeat, organised and increasingly violent offenders."
"Focusing on the small group of offenders responsible for the majority crime is critical to reducing harm in our communities, and that's only possible once we gain full visibility into the total scale of the problem."
"Police do an incredible job keeping us all safe, but we know they are often stretched to meet the demand of high-volume crime like retail crime. Through tech-enabled collaboration with retailers, police can operate more efficiently, getting officers back on the beat sooner and giving them more
time to focus their resources on those top offenders and other serious crimes."
"Public safety is a shared responsibility, and by combining exceptional policing, innovative policymaking, a united retail sector, and technology, we can address this issue at scale."
The 2025 Retail Crime Symposium was held in Melbourne on Thursday, 24 July 2025.
