The Australian Retailers Association (ARA) and National Retail Association (NRA) have today welcomed the Victorian Opposition's support for stronger retail crime initiatives, including the adoption of the knife protection measure Jack's Law, which successfully works in Queensland.
"Retail Crime is at a crisis point in Victoria. Unless we take active measures to address the problem, it will only worsen," said ARA CEO Chris Rodwell.
"Retailers are doing everything they can to protect their teams and their customers, but they can't solve this alone. We need to see a unified approach from government, police and industry to address the challenge. Bi-partisan support is vital and that's why we commend the ongoing focus on this issue by the Victorian Opposition Leader, Brad Battin MP.
"We would like to see the retail crime measures go even further in Victoria, with Workplace Protection orders now a critical priority. WPOs have highly effective in the ACT and are under active consideration in other states.
"For the past two years, we've been calling for tougher legislation in Victoria specifically targeting abuse or assault of retail workers, similar to measures introduced in South Australia, New South Wales and Western Australia. We urgently need a firm commitment on the timing of this by the government.
"Sadly, our retail teams are paying the price for the government's delay. Across the country, on average, a violent or serious incident occurs around every 5 minutes, according to crime reporting platform Auror.
"Victoria remains the national hot spot. It accounts for almost 35% of total incidents. In the latest numbers it registered 60% more incidents than any other State, making it the retail crime capital of the nation.
"A staggering one in ten incidents now involve assault, physical abuse, weapons, burglary, aggression and other similar behaviours. Repeat offenders and organised retail crime groups are causing the most damage, with ten percent of offenders causing at least 60 percent of the problems.
Mr Rodwell said responsible adoption of technology solutions in retail settings is another part of the solution. Innovations such as body worn cameras and facial recognition technology have been highly effective in retail locations around the world.
