South Australia is seeing encouraging progress in its fight against crime, with new figures revealing a steady decline in offences across the state. The latest data for the year ending September 2025 shows total offences have fallen by four per cent, highlighting the effectiveness of recent government measures and strengthened policing strategies.
Property-related crime continues its long-term downward trend, recording a six per cent decrease and marking 13 consecutive reporting periods of decline. In real terms, offences against the person or property dropped by 4,893 incidents to 118,368, while property crime alone reduced by 5,386 incidents, bringing the total from 94,112 down to 88,726. Clear reductions were recorded in key areas: robbery, blackmail and extortion fell by six per cent, and theft decreased by seven per cent, with 4,217 fewer offences. Retail theft dropped by a significant 14 per cent, and theft from individuals fell by three per cent.
The SA Government’s targeted reforms have played a major role in these outcomes, including strengthened knife laws and new measures aimed at reducing gang-related offending and copper theft. These efforts, paired with proactive approaches by SA Police in managing recidivist offenders, have helped curb repeat offending, particularly across property-related categories.
To further support community safety, the State Government has boosted funding to SA Police as part of the 2025–26 Budget, with an extra $334 million invested. This includes funding for 189 new Police Security Officers in a broader $82 million package.
The investment comes at a time of growing interest in policing careers, evidenced by a record 3,050 applications from local and international candidates. As a result, the SA Police Academy has doubled its intake, graduating 264 officers in 2024–25, well above previous years.
Police Minister Blair Boyer said the positive trends reflect the government’s commitment to resourcing law enforcement effectively.
“This government has made unprecedented investments in SA Police, and it is helping better protect the community,” he said.
“Of course there is more work to do, with a significant amount of SAPOL officers’ time, spent dealing with domestic and family violence related issues. But we are committed to protecting the community, and our investments reflect the support we have in our hard-working officers – with these decreasing trends in crime statistics showing that our investments are working.”
Supporting this momentum, SA Police has modernised its crime recording and reporting platform as of 1 July, implementing new ABS-mandated coding to improve the accuracy and reliability of crime data. This upgrade ensures better tracking of emerging trends and helps guide future decision-making.
These coordinated legislative reforms, strategic investment and improved data systems help SA drive down crime and increase safety. With rates continuing to fall and more officers entering the force than ever before, South Australians can feel confident in the community.
