Crime in the Geelong region

The Geelong region in Victoria is one of the three major growth centres in Australia, the others being Albury/Wodonga on the Victoria/New South Wales border and Bathurst/Orange in New South Wales. A fourth potential growth centre is Monarto in South Australia. In all places where there is a rapid increase in population a number of social problems may be expected unless very careful planning is undertaken to avoid them. Among these problems is an expected increase in crime and delinquency, largely associated with the two factors of increased population density and population mobility.

This study highlights which parts of the Geelong region have the highest crime rates and where the known offenders live. These two sets of data suggest quite difference types of action : better security and surveillance in high crime areas, and more vigorous attempts to keep potential offenders out of trouble in areas which house high numbers of offenders. It also shows that there are clearly defined sub-districts within the region to which both of these sets of needs apply, namely Norlane, West Geelong, Corio and East Geelong. These four sub-districts comprise 23.8 per cent of the total population of the region and yet 31.0 per cent of the total crime of the region is committed in them, and they house 35 per cent of all the known offenders.