Crime in Melton and Moorabool is on the rise, according to the latest data.
The Crime Statistics Agency revealed in the year ending September 2025, the Melton local government area’s crime was up by more than 16 per cent compared to the previous year, with 16,827 offences recorded for the area.
Melton led as the crime hotspot, with 1618 recorded offences, followed by Melton South and Caroline Springs at 1067 and 1022 recorded offences respectively.
Other theft was revealed to be the most common offence recorded across Melton, with 2167 recorded incidents, followed by stealing from a motor vehicle (1756), criminal damage (968), breach of a family violence order (902), and stealing from a retail store (759).
In Moorabool, crime was up by more than 27 per cent compared to the previous year, with 2357 offences recorded in 2025 compared to 1849 in 2024.
Bacchus Marsh hosted the most recorded offences at 923, followed by Darley with 382 and Maddingley at 301.
Mooradbool’s offenders also favoured other theft as the most popular recorded offence at a rate of 325, followed by stealing from a motor vehicle (251), breach of a family violence order (212), criminal damage (192), and stealing from a retail store (125).
Houses were the most common location types for committed offences in both local government areas, with Melton recording 4380 incidents occurring at peoples’ places of residence, and Moorabool recording 774.
Streets, lanes and footpaths followed, with 1953 offences recorded for Melton and 307 for Moorabool.
Service stations came in third for both areas, with Melton and Moorabool recording 796 and 174 incidents occurring by the bowsers respectively.
The data revealed a steady increase in recorded offences for Melton since 2023, after a small drop-off from the previous year in 2022.
Moorabool’s offences, on the other hand, have steadily increased since 2022.
The data comes as knife and gang-related violence continue to plague suburbs in Melbourne’s west, with a recent coronial report showing one third of the children killed in street knife crime in Victoria over the past 10 years were from the Melton area.
